TEMPE, Ariz.-- The Arizona State soccer team capped the 2018 Sun Devil Desert Classic with a 4-0 win over Southeast Missouri State Sunday at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.
Both teams took the field with heavy hearts this afternoon in light of a tragic event that impacted a player on the Southeastern Missouri State team.
"There are things way more important than the game today," head coach Graham Winkworth said. "I want to send my condolences, prayers and best wishes not just from myself but from all of Arizona State to Southeast Missouri and particularly this young lady and her family. That is where our minds really are today, rather than a soccer match."
Looking to build off a dominant second half in Friday's loss to New Hampshire, the Sun Devils pressured the Redhawks early, forcing the visitors to face 13 first half shots.
"When I went back and watched Friday's game I thought we were just as good in the second half of Friday's game as we were in the entire game today," Winkworth said of his team's effort. "I thought we played well to end the game on Friday and I thought we continued that momentum and controlled the game from start to finish today. Although there are lots of things we can improve, today was a profession performance given the difficult circumstances."
Offensively, the Sun Devils mounted a balanced attack with four players finding the back of the net. Defensively sophomore goalkeeper Nikki Panas recorded the clean sheet with two saves in her first start of the season.
"It felt good," Panas said of her first appearance in goal for the Sun Devils this season. "It was nice to be back and I thought the team played well. To get a shutout and keep it clean on the back line was something that was a major key going into the season. Teams can win, but defense wins championships and that is what we have been aiming fr this year."
The first goal would come just 23 minutes into the match when senior forward Casey Martinez picked up her first goal of the season with a laser off her left foot outside the 18-yard box.
"I am really proud of our team performance today," the senior striker said. "I knew coming in as a reserve that we needed to pick up the energy a little bit more than what we came out with and I wanted to be a part of that. I was proud with how we played, especially in the late first half and early second half. Coming off of a loss is always hard. It is a test of character and I think we showed today that we do have that character and we were able to really pick up the tempo and win today."
With neither team able to break through again in the first half, the match would head to halftime with ASU working with a narrow, 1-0 lead. Just five minutes into the second half, freshman forward Cori Sullivan netted her second goal of the season, pushing ASU's lead to 2-0. The Sun Devils wasted little time building it's lead even more as just six minutes later freshman midfielder Eva Van Deursen weaved through a sea of Redhawk defenders and finished for her first career goal as a Sun Devil.
The Sun Devil scoring barrage would continue in the 66th- minute as yet another freshman found the back of the net. This time it was forward Nicole Douglas who cut inside the box and finished for her third goal of the season.
The Sun Devils will continue the 2018 regular season this week with a trip to Tucson to play Baylor, a team who reached the Elite Eight in 2017. Friday's game is slated for a 4 p.m. kickoff and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.