TEMPE– A wind advisory blew over Sun Devil Soccer Stadium during a Big 12 matchup between Arizona State (7-4-3 overall, 2-3-1 in Big 12) and the University of Houston (8-3-3, 4-2), where penalties cost Arizona State in a 3-2 loss.

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Winds reached 30 miles per hour, adding an additional task for each team to overcome as they try to earn points in conference play.

Both teams found the net early.

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The Sun Devils attacked early; freshman defender Mya Angus started the attack by passing to junior forward Kierra Blundell at center field, who assisted junior forward Sierra Bergen on the first goal.

“Not going too high, obviously me and Sierra want to go celebrate, which is great, but the second we do, we got to come together and be like, ‘ Okay, let’s keep going,” Blundell said.

The Houston Cougars found the net 24 seconds later from inside the box, evening the score just over two minutes into the game.

“Not tracking our runners immediately after scoring; that was an awful time to concede a goal.” AUS head coach Graham Winkworth said.

The goalkeepers saw early action.

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After the Sun Devils and the Cougars found the net, defenses tightened, and aggressive play led to attacks from both sides.

Early on, Arizona State had four corner kick opportunities, but the wind changed the ball’s flight, making it harder for the Sun Devils to capitalize.

In the 24th minute, Houston attacked in the Sun Devils’ box, and Arizona State senior defender Natalie Drotzmann was called for a foul. She was given a yellow card, her fourth of the season.

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Houston senior forward Adelhia Ghonda capitalized off the penalty kick to give the Cougars the lead.

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Six minutes later, the Cougars found the net again off another Sun Devils foul, earning the Cougars a free kick, and senior midfielder Ava Shannon scored the third goal.

“Today we conceded a goal from a penalty kick and a free kick, those two set pieces,” Winkworth said. “Very Disappointing.”

Second half comeback falls short

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From the second-half kickoff, Arizona State quickly generated offensive chances, putting pressure on the Cougars’ defense with attacks on goal. Still, later in the half Houston opened up their offense and started putting pressure back on the Sun Devils’ defense.

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In the 82nd minute, the Sun Devils earned a penalty kick, and Blundell scored to cut Houston’s lead to one.

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Arizona State needed to tie the game with five minutes left, but they ran out of time. The Cougars’ defensive attack was too much for ASU, and they couldn’t find a third goal.

“We got to treat every minute of the game as equally as important, and we didn’t do that today,” Winkworth said.

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However, the Sun Devils scored two goals on the Houston Cougars, who had given up only 8 goals so far this season.

Arizona State finished with 15 shots and 4 shots on net, while the Houston Cougars finished with 17 shots and 8 shots on net.

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The Sun Devils brought more intensity in the second half to make the game close, but the Maroon and Gold will look to bring that intensity from kickoff on the road to face Oklahoma State on October 16 at 5 p.m. MST.

“We wanted the three points, but in the end we couldn’t dwell on it. Blundell said. “We just got to bounce back and learn from our mistakes from this game.”