WSU Soccer (8-4-4) had two home matches over the weekend against the Arizona schools. The first game Thursday saw the Cougs get their first home loss on the season as the Arizona State Sun Devils won 2-0.

The Cougs looked to bounce back Sunday against a struggling Arizona Wildcat team, but the Wildcats stood tall defensively and got the 0-0 draw.

WSU has now gone five straight games without a win. They have lost three and drawn three games during this stretch of bad play.

The Cougs are struggling at the wrong times, with No. 1 ranked UCLA Bruins set to host the Cougs Thursday.

In total, WSU took 49 shots in the two games to score zero goals. The Arizona schools combined for 16 shots for the two goals from the Sun Devils. 

“I mean we’re not finishing… you just got to regroup, flush and move forward,” head coach Todd Shulenberger said postgame.

WSU vs Arizona State:

Against the Sun Devils the Cougs looked tired and defeated, but still should have won the game. Two second-half goals from Arizona State propelled the Sun Devils to victory as WSU took shot after shot but could not find the target.

In the first-half, the Cougs took 11 shots with three on target that were all saved by the Arizona State goalie. The Sun Devils had one shot saved by Nadia Cooper before halftime.

WSU took some shots early and kept possession for most of the first-half as they had the crowd behind them, they tried and produce a goal but were unsuccessful.

The second-half saw the game open early as the Sun Devils jumped out to the early lead in the 50th minute. Olivia Nguyen scored her second goal of the season to put Arizona State up 1-0. The goal was assisted by Lucy Johnson.

After the goal, the Cougs went on the attack as they tried to claw their way back. They took 21 shots in the second half and had four of them on target. They were all saved by Arizona State. The Sun Devils only managed five shots in the second-half, but four of them were on target and two of them were goals.

The second goal came in the 74th minute as Hannah Leitner scored her first goal of the season to give Arizona State some breathing room as they secured the 2-0 victory. The goal was assisted by Eva van Deursen.

WSU vs Arizona:

The game against the Arizona Wildcats was one that was up for grabs from start to finish. Both teams had few chances in the game but just needed one shot to go in to secure all three points for their team. 90 minutes and six yellow cards later the game ended in a 0-0 draw.

WSU took 10 shots in the first half and had two on target which were both saved by the Wildcat goalie. Arizona saw two of their four shots reach the target in the half, but Cooper stopped them both.

The second half was a very defensive and rough half of soccer, with six yellow cards being given out and nine fouls total in the second. Both teams took a low number of shots, WSU only managed to take seven shots with two more on target that were saved. While the Wildcats only had one shot that Cooper needed to save.

Of the six yellow cards handed out in the game, four of them were given to the Wildcats and two of them were given to the Cougs.

On the winless run for the Cougs, they have gone scoreless for two straight games, and have not scored more than one goal in a game since September 18 against Saint Mary’s.

With only three conference games left in the season before the NCAA tournament and playoffs, these next three matchups for WSU are must-win games, but it will not be easy.

The next time the Cougs take the field is Thursday as they travel to Los Angeles to take on the UCLA Bruins. WSU will then finish the weekend as they take on the USC Trojans Sunday.

After the weekend games in Los Angeles, the Cougs head home as the Washington Huskies come to town for the final regular season game of the season.