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ASU Soccer: Sun Devils lose to Hawaii 1-0 in overtime

By Sam Ficarro

TEMPE, AZ - NOVEMBER 14: The Arizona State Sun Devils mascot 'Sparky' performs during the college football game against the Washington Huskies at Sun Devil Stadium on November 14, 2015 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils defeated the Huskies 27-17. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
TEMPE, AZ - NOVEMBER 14: The Arizona State Sun Devils mascot 'Sparky' performs during the college football game against the Washington Huskies at Sun Devil Stadium on November 14, 2015 in Tempe, Arizona. The Sun Devils defeated the Huskies 27-17. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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ASU soccer began their final weekend of non-conference games on a sour note losing another overtime, this one 1-0, versus Hawaii.

ASU soccer were looking to start their final non-conference weekend strong, but they couldn’t stay in the win column Friday night.

The Sun Devils fell to Hawaii 1-0 in overtime on an unassisted goal from midfielder Raisa Strom-Okimoto in the 96th minute.

It was Arizona State’s fourth overtime of the season and is 1-2-1 in those games.

Leading up to the goal, Arizona State were shouting for a handball call against Hawaii, but referee ruled it wasn’t a handball.

It was a frustrating night for the Sun Devils as they had 14 fouls compared to Hawaii only having three fouls for the game.

Hawaii outshot Arizona State 20-19 with both goalkeepers making numerous saves to keep their teams in the match.

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Arizona State goalkeeper Nikki Panas finished with nine saves while Hawaii goalkeeper Alexis Mata finished with eight saves.

“Nikki [Panas] has done a great job soaking up the role,” defender Madison Stark said. “It’s hard to fill the role as goalkeeper, especially as a freshman, because you’re new and you don’t know what to expect, but she’s done a great job.

“She [Panas] has a commanding presence back there and I do feel comfortable with her in goal behind me. She’s great with her feet and in the air, and we really trust her.”

The running theme with this Sun Devils team is their inability to finish chances in the final third, and that trend continued as they had numerous chances to score.

Winger Jemma Purfield had three chances in the first half with a shot with a great chance coming in the eighth minute as she had a shot just glance over the bar.

ASU had a lot of chances in the penalty area, but lacked composure as not many chances really challenged Mata.

“We are having the same problem of struggling to finish chances in the final third,” head coach Graham Winkworth said. “We have tried a bunch of formations and systems, but at the moment we are struggling to put the ball in the back of the net in open play, and we got to do better in the final third.”

Another controversial play came in the 72nd minute where Olive Jones was battling for possession of the ball on the edge of the box and was pulled down, but the foul was instead called against the Sun Devils.

The players and Winkworth were frustrated with how the game went, but said they will continue to work in practice.

“We need to work hard and finish our chances,” Stark said. “We need to be more clinical in front of the net and in the back line as well. I don’t think we came out with the right mindset in overtime and it showed.”

Next: ASU Soccer: Two second half goals lifts Sun Devils over FGCU

Arizona State is now 2-4-1 and will wrap up non-conference play Sunday versus Weber State before opening Pac-12 play next Friday versus Oregon State.