Fine margins continue to haunt ASU soccer in loss to No. 9 Baylor

As senior defender Natalie Drotzmann watched Baylor midfielder Brynnlee Bohannon charge up the pitch, she could already see the play. 

Much like the entire night, Drotzmann was a step ahead. She felt the run being formed by midfielder Aryanna Jimison. She knew she had to cover it.

So when Bohannon attempted to slip Jimison through, Drotzmann lunged — extending her right leg in an attempt to cover the passing window.

Except she missed. The ball crept just beyond her fully elongated effort. 

It gave Jimison a one-on-one with ASU’s sophomore goalkeeper Izzy Duink. Jimison, a senior, came in leading Baylor with seven goals and made no mistakes. 

She buried her effort into the right-hand side of the goal to extend Baylor’s lead to two. With eight minutes remaining, she also buried any chance of an ASU comeback. 

For the Sun Devils, the goal might not just signify the ending to the game. Jimison’s dagger could be what puts an end to their Big 12 tournament bid. 

The Sun Devils fell 2-0 to the visiting No. 9 Baylor Bears for their fourth loss in the Big 12. It was the fourth time this season ASU failed to score.

ASU understood the stakes entering the contest — they needed a result. So they chased every loose ball. Went hard into every challenge. Ran until their legs couldn’t anymore. All while dealing with several injuries. 

But once again, fine margins turned out to be the difference for ASU. A theme not only against the Bears, but for the entirety of the season. 

“Right now I’m just frustrated,” head coach Graham Winkworth said. “That’s my emotions right now.”

The first culprit behind the discontent was the referees. After senior midfielder Emmie Ennis drilled a low cross into the Sun Devils’ attacking box. It took a deflection before going out of harm’s way.

The ASU sideline was quick to protest. They asked for a review, believing the ball to have hit the hand of Baylor defender Sydney Miller.

After the review, the ref upheld the decision. With it, Winkworth began to lose composure. 

“The referees have a very difficult job,” Winkworth said.”We’ve just not been on the fortunate end of some of the big calls, and at home, not that we should get any home favoritism, but at home, that’s really disappointing.”

A few minutes later, Baylor capitalized. Given time, midfielder Olivia Hess looked up to see an impossibly small window — and she liked her chances.

She swung in a perfectly placed cross. At the end of it was forward Theresa McCullough, who had snuck past freshman defender Mya Angus on the back post. She plucked it out of the air before smashing a low drive past Duink.

“That pass was one of the passes of the season,” Winkworth said. “We got caught out a little bit in position. We’ve got a young back line and a wonderful pass to open the game up.”

The goal came in the 57th minute — eight minutes after the Sun Devils’ dispute. 

It was another moment where, if it had ended up in ASU’s favor, the season might look different. It falls in line with their 1-1 draw against Iowa St., after outshooting them 29-4, and the 3-2 loss to Houston, where the team later found out one of the Cougars’ goals should never have occurred. 

It’s the kind of moments that plague this team. 

Yet, the fight never stops. Coming in against a top-ten opponent, with several key players missing from the lineup, the Sun Devils chose to battle. 

“We don’t like excuses,” Winkworth said. “We’ve only got a limited number of players available right now, and the girls worked their socks off. I was proud of their efforts.”

One player missing was team captain Peyton Marcisz. The team’s heartbeat on the field, missing in one of its most crucial moments. 

The Sun Devils didn’t allow it to deter their spirit. 

“(Marcisz) is a great player. She just controls the whole game when she’s on the field,” junior forward Kierra Blundell said. “(Tonight) when we have the ball, be as calm as Peyton and do it for Peyton. Do it for the rest of the girls who are out.”

That effort needs to be at the heart of the Sun Devils’ closing games this season. 

With three opportunities left, and the team still behind the eighth and final qualifying place for the Big 12 tournament, their chances have grown increasingly slim. 

But in soccer, never say never.

“The message is anything can happen,” Blundell said. “The 11 girls on the field are going to do the job, and I think we can do it. There’s three games left to prove it, so we gotta keep going.”

Edited by Char O’Neil and Kate Gore.

Reach the reporter at jakobarnarsson@gmail.com and follow @JakobA2004 on X.

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