THE GAME: Sun Devil Soccer (9-5-3, 5-5-1 Pac-12) at Portland (11-4-4, 5-4 WCC)
WHEN: Saturday at 7 p.m. PST/8 p.m. MST
WHERE: Merlo Field at the Clive Charles Soccer Complex • Portland, Ore.
WATCH: ESPN+ (subscription required $)
LIVE STATS: Click here
UP NEXT
The Sun Devil soccer team will attempt to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons when it travels to the state of Oregon to face No. 8 seed Portland (7 p.m. PST/8 p.m. MST) in a first-round game on Saturday (7 p.m. PST/8 p.m. MST).
The Sun Devils (9-5-3, 5-5-1 Pac-12) will look to display once again what have been the program’s defining qualities in recent years: toughness and resilience.
On Oct. 30, soccer pundits figured a win over Oregon State would clinch ASU’s NCAA spot. In an unfortunate turn of events, the Sun Devils came out on the wrong end of a 3-1 upset. And just like that, ASU’s season-finale against in-state rival Arizona, a team ASU had not beaten since 2015, became all but a must-win contest. After falling behind 2-1 in the opening minutes of the second half, Eva van Deursen and Lucy Johnson both scored goals to help the ASU to a come-from-behind, 3-2 win over the Wildcats, a team that also had NCAA aspirations coming into the contest.
The win over Arizona was one of four contests in which the Sun Devils needed to dig deep to find a way to win and is the reason they are still playing the second week of November. ASU opened Pac-12 play with a 2-0 record for the first time since 2007. How did it get there? It won its Pac-12 opener at Colorado 3-2, a win made possible by van Deursen’s goal from long distance with three seconds remaining. A week later against perennial Pac-12 power Cal, it was van Deursen once again coming up with the game-winning goal to cap ASU’s come-from-behind, 2-1 win over the Bears. Finally, ASU entered its game at Washington State (Oct. 20) on a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) with only goal in 360 minutes of play. In a game that likely served as an eliminator for the losing team as far as postseason aspirations were concerned, the Sun Devils captured a convincing 2-0 victory.
SERIES NOTES VS PORTLAND
The only prior meeting between the Sun Devils and Pilots came in the second round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament, a match won by the Pilots, 3-1 in Portland.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• ASU will be making its ninth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its second in the last…
WHEN: Saturday at 7 p.m. PST/8 p.m. MST
WHERE: Merlo Field at the Clive Charles Soccer Complex • Portland, Ore.
WATCH: ESPN+ (subscription required $)
LIVE STATS: Click here
UP NEXT
The Sun Devil soccer team will attempt to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three seasons when it travels to the state of Oregon to face No. 8 seed Portland (7 p.m. PST/8 p.m. MST) in a first-round game on Saturday (7 p.m. PST/8 p.m. MST).
The Sun Devils (9-5-3, 5-5-1 Pac-12) will look to display once again what have been the program’s defining qualities in recent years: toughness and resilience.
On Oct. 30, soccer pundits figured a win over Oregon State would clinch ASU’s NCAA spot. In an unfortunate turn of events, the Sun Devils came out on the wrong end of a 3-1 upset. And just like that, ASU’s season-finale against in-state rival Arizona, a team ASU had not beaten since 2015, became all but a must-win contest. After falling behind 2-1 in the opening minutes of the second half, Eva van Deursen and Lucy Johnson both scored goals to help the ASU to a come-from-behind, 3-2 win over the Wildcats, a team that also had NCAA aspirations coming into the contest.
The win over Arizona was one of four contests in which the Sun Devils needed to dig deep to find a way to win and is the reason they are still playing the second week of November. ASU opened Pac-12 play with a 2-0 record for the first time since 2007. How did it get there? It won its Pac-12 opener at Colorado 3-2, a win made possible by van Deursen’s goal from long distance with three seconds remaining. A week later against perennial Pac-12 power Cal, it was van Deursen once again coming up with the game-winning goal to cap ASU’s come-from-behind, 2-1 win over the Bears. Finally, ASU entered its game at Washington State (Oct. 20) on a four-game winless streak (0-3-1) with only goal in 360 minutes of play. In a game that likely served as an eliminator for the losing team as far as postseason aspirations were concerned, the Sun Devils captured a convincing 2-0 victory.
SERIES NOTES VS PORTLAND
The only prior meeting between the Sun Devils and Pilots came in the second round of the 2000 NCAA Tournament, a match won by the Pilots, 3-1 in Portland.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
• ASU will be making its ninth all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament and its second in the last…
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