ASU Falls To Baylor In First Round Of The NCAA Tournament

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Tempe, AZ (Friday, November 9th, 2012) – The Arizona State women’s soccer team saw its 2012 season come to an end on Friday night as the third-seeded Baylor Bears defeated the Sun Devils, 3-1 in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament.

The Sun Devils (10-9-2) allowed only three shots in the first half, but Baylor (18-1-4) was able to find the back of the net with two of those shots – in the 16th minute and 35th minute – and took a 2-0 lead into the half.

“It’s really hard to do a lot when a team scores two goals in three shots,” ASU head coach Kevin Boyd said. “It put us behind it and we had to battle back.”

The Sun Devils would cut Baylor’s lead in half when freshman Cali Farquharson scored her 10th goal of the season in the 55th minute, however Baylor would reclaim its two-goal lead when it scored 46 seconds later.

The second half was played amidst periods of heavy rain and gusting winds, which added to the chaotic atmosphere on the field where the two teams combined for 33 fouls (19 by Baylor and 14 from ASU) and six yellow cards (four given to Baylor and two to ASU).

“That is their style. They are direct and they’re very good in the air. We knew it was going to be like that,” Boyd said of the physical play.

ASU played much of the game without one of its top offensive performers, Devin Marshall, who was forced to leave the game following a collision in the first half in which a Baylor player was accessed a yellow card.

ASU was making its third NCAA appearance in a four-year span after a late-season, five-game unbeaten streak (4-0-1) enabled it to finish fourth in the Pac-12, its best league finish since 2004.