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ASU Soccer: Two Purfield penalties leads to draw at Utah

By Rayan Vatti

LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil performs during the team's quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the Oregon Ducks T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oregon won 80-57. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NV - MARCH 09: Arizona State Sun Devils mascot Sparky the Sun Devil performs during the team's quarterfinal game of the Pac-12 Basketball Tournament against the Oregon Ducks T-Mobile Arena on March 9, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Oregon won 80-57. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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Coming off a 3-0 loss at Colorado, ASU soccer earned a result with a 2-2 draw versus Utah with Jemma Purfield converting two penalties.

ASU soccer broke their five-game losing streak with a 2-2 draw against the Utah Utes in Salt Lake City. ASU now has a record of 4-9-2 overall and 1-5-2 in Pac-12 play.

The game started out well for the Sun Devils. After a Utah foul in the box in the 13th minute, Arizona State received a penalty kick. Junior defender Jemma Purfield converted it to give the Sun Devils an early 1-0 lead.

ASU led 1-0 until the 38th minute, when Utah star Paola Van der Veen chipped ASU goalkeeper Nikki Pannas to tie the game. The halftime score was 1-1.

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In the 49th minute of the game, ASU committed a foul in the box. Van der Veen scored the penalty kick, giving the Utes their first lead of the game. But ASU didn’t go away.

In the 75th minute, a Utah foul gave ASU yet another penalty kick. Once again, Purfield easily converted, giving her a team-high sixth goal on the season.

From there, neither team scored again for the rest of regulation, although Utah’s Natalie Vukic barely missed a game-winning attempt wide of the goal. The score remained the same in overtime.

Although both teams had chances to win, neither could convert. Pannas made two clutch saves in the second period of overtime to salvage the draw.

Although they only managed to draw, ASU improved from their last outing, a three-goal loss to Colorado. ASU was able to generate a lot of attacks, garnering 14 total shots, half of them on target.

Next: ASU Soccer: Lack of finishing sends Devils to another loss against Colorado

It was also a much more physical game than ASU has played in the past. In addition to the three penalty kicks, ASU was called for 23 fouls and fouled 15 times. Next up, ASU returns to Tempe for a game against Washington State Thursday.