Brookings, S.D. -- Arizona State soccer claimed their second shutout victory of the season, topping South Dakota State, 2-0, Monday afternoon at Fishback Soccer Park.
The win improved the Sun Devils to 3-2 on the season, while also marking the first road win of the 2018 season after ASU's match against Hawaii was rained out earlier this season.
"Playing teams like Baylor are going to prepare physically for any game," head coach Graham Winkworth said of his team's gritty victory. "I thought this was a very well officiated game and I was obviously very happy with the result."
The Sun Devils got things started early as senior forward Casey Martinez would fire the first of ASU's eight first half shots in just the third minute of the match.
Arizona State would finally break through in when freshman Alexia Delgado found the back of the net in the game's 21st- minute, giving ASU an early 1-0 lead.
With neither team able to break through in the following 25 minutes, the game would head to halftime with ASU leading by a goal.
Coming out of the break, South Dakota State jumped on the offensive, earning a corner kick in just the sixth minute of the half. Unfortunately for the home side, the opportunity would come up empty as the stifling ASU defense was there to turn the would-be equalizer away.
Arizona State would finally break through in the 77th minute when senior captain Jemma Purfield weaved her way through the Jackrabbit defense and found freshman forward Nicole Douglas inside the 18' for a score. The goal for Douglas marked her fourth of the season, a tally that ranks first on the team this year, and third in the Pac-12.
"It was a fantastic goal at that point of the match," Winkworth said. "We were under a bit of pressure at that point. They had found a lot of territory on our half of the pitch and we defended it very very well. We hadn't caused them too many problems to that point in the second half. Then Jemma flicked a ball forward and Dougie was there for a fantastic finish."
On the defensive side, Monday's shutout victory marked the team's second clean-sheet of the season, the last coming in a 4-0 win over SEMO last weekend. Senior keeper Sydney Day picked up her second win of the season with a two-save performance.
"We are starting to slowly put the cogs together," Winkworth said of his team's defensive effort. "We have only had two practices with the full squad here, so it is going to take some time for things to gel, but today we showed signs of that."
Offensively Arizona State ended the day with 12 total shots, eight of which were on goal. The eight shots on goal marked the second highest number of shots on target for the Sun Devils this season, checking in behind only the 11 shots on goal from ASU in their win against SEMO.
"That was key for us," Winkworth said of his team's accurate shooting performance. "You really need to have at least half of your shots on goal. For me, South Dakota State's keeper is one of the best in the country. I really do rate her that highly. Before the game I explained to our team that I didn't want us to be shooting from 30 or 40 yards out. I wanted to see us get our chances from in and around the box and that is exactly what we did. We didn't take a lot of shots in the game, but I thought the ones we did take were in quality parts of the field. I was very pleased with the efficiency of our offense today."
The Sun Devils will be back in action this Friday when they travel up north to take on Northern Arizona. Kickoff in Friday's match is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT. Fans can stay up to date with the Sun Devils all season long by following @SunDevilSoccer on Twitter.
The win improved the Sun Devils to 3-2 on the season, while also marking the first road win of the 2018 season after ASU's match against Hawaii was rained out earlier this season.
"Playing teams like Baylor are going to prepare physically for any game," head coach Graham Winkworth said of his team's gritty victory. "I thought this was a very well officiated game and I was obviously very happy with the result."
The Sun Devils got things started early as senior forward Casey Martinez would fire the first of ASU's eight first half shots in just the third minute of the match.
Arizona State would finally break through in when freshman Alexia Delgado found the back of the net in the game's 21st- minute, giving ASU an early 1-0 lead.
With neither team able to break through in the following 25 minutes, the game would head to halftime with ASU leading by a goal.
Coming out of the break, South Dakota State jumped on the offensive, earning a corner kick in just the sixth minute of the half. Unfortunately for the home side, the opportunity would come up empty as the stifling ASU defense was there to turn the would-be equalizer away.
Arizona State would finally break through in the 77th minute when senior captain Jemma Purfield weaved her way through the Jackrabbit defense and found freshman forward Nicole Douglas inside the 18' for a score. The goal for Douglas marked her fourth of the season, a tally that ranks first on the team this year, and third in the Pac-12.
"It was a fantastic goal at that point of the match," Winkworth said. "We were under a bit of pressure at that point. They had found a lot of territory on our half of the pitch and we defended it very very well. We hadn't caused them too many problems to that point in the second half. Then Jemma flicked a ball forward and Dougie was there for a fantastic finish."
On the defensive side, Monday's shutout victory marked the team's second clean-sheet of the season, the last coming in a 4-0 win over SEMO last weekend. Senior keeper Sydney Day picked up her second win of the season with a two-save performance.
"We are starting to slowly put the cogs together," Winkworth said of his team's defensive effort. "We have only had two practices with the full squad here, so it is going to take some time for things to gel, but today we showed signs of that."
Offensively Arizona State ended the day with 12 total shots, eight of which were on goal. The eight shots on goal marked the second highest number of shots on target for the Sun Devils this season, checking in behind only the 11 shots on goal from ASU in their win against SEMO.
"That was key for us," Winkworth said of his team's accurate shooting performance. "You really need to have at least half of your shots on goal. For me, South Dakota State's keeper is one of the best in the country. I really do rate her that highly. Before the game I explained to our team that I didn't want us to be shooting from 30 or 40 yards out. I wanted to see us get our chances from in and around the box and that is exactly what we did. We didn't take a lot of shots in the game, but I thought the ones we did take were in quality parts of the field. I was very pleased with the efficiency of our offense today."
The Sun Devils will be back in action this Friday when they travel up north to take on Northern Arizona. Kickoff in Friday's match is scheduled for 7 p.m. PT. Fans can stay up to date with the Sun Devils all season long by following @SunDevilSoccer on Twitter.