Los Angeles -- Despite a valiant effort, the Arizona State soccer team fell to No. 15 UCLA, 3-1, at Drake Stadium Thursday evening.
"I was very happy with the way we played tonight," head coach Graham Winkworth said of his team's effort. "They have worked extremely hard and they played brave, attractive soccer. They countered extremely well. If you take the first 20 minutes out of the match it was a very close game. I think we went in with a little bit of the deer in headlights look to start the match and unfortunately that cost us. The ladies have been fantastic all season, and tonight they were fantastic once again."
The home team wasted no time getting the offense started, scoring the go-ahead goal in just the second minute of the match, following the effort with yet another goal in the 17th- minute.
Looking to cut into the lead, the Sun Devils saw their first opportunity come in the 23rd minute when freshman midfielder Marleen Schimmer played a beautiful pass forward to senior Casey Martinez who fired in a shot that was saved by the UCLA keeper.
The Sun Devils would stay on the attack late in the first half, earning a pair of corners and three more shots, but the 15th- ranked Bruins were able to turn the opportunities away to keep ASU off the board.
Coming out of the halftime break, UCLA extended their lead to 3-0 with a goal in the 61st minute, forcing the Sun Devils to dig deep and try to respond in the final 29 minutes of the match.
Senior defender Jemma Purfield made it clear she was up for the challenge, breaking through the stout Bruin defense in the 73rd- minute, puling the score to a 3-1 lead for the home-side.
"Jem put forth some great tackles tonight," Winkworth said of his senior's all around performance in the match. "She is playing left back so the first thing she has got to do is defend. She did a great job limiting their chances down the right side and that was what I was most proud with. Later in the game she did a great job making the last 20 minutes of the match a little more nervy than UCLA would have liked. I was happy for her to get off the mark for the season, and I thought she put in a solid performance. I was really pleased with her and her team overall."
The goal by Purfield seemed to be all the Sun Devils needed to get things going on the offensive side as the Sun Devils would threaten with a pair of free kicks in the proceeding minutes that would sail just high and make the score final at 3-1 at the final buzzer.
In the loss, senior Sydney Day played an incredible game in goal. The senior, in her first appearance in a Pac-12 game, made a pair of saves and was instrumental in another save that was credited to the team.
"I was so proud for Syd," Winkworth added of his senior keeper. "I talked to her before the game and I told her that she should go enjoy this moment. I felt awful for her to not get the win tonight. I want to credit her with how hard she has worked and how well, and with such character, she has represented ASU. Not only this season, but for the last four years. She should hold her head high because she is a great goalkeeper and has earned the right to play in these big games for us."
Schimmer, a freshman from Mainz, Germany, was another player who played an incredible game in the Sun Devil loss. The midfielder was just a couple inches shy of dropping two free kicks into the back of the net, and would have been credited with an assist on Martinez' near goal in the first half. Playing in arguably the Sun Devils' most difficult match to this point in the season, Schimmer played a season high 88 minutes.
"I thought Schimmy was fantastic," Winkworth said of Marleen's game. "She demonstrated today why she is a Sun Devil. She showed today what we have been looking for all season. I am delighted for her and for the team. I think she will have a big part to play for the remainder of the season if she can continue to play at the level she played tonight. All she has to do is just show that consistency, but she was fantastic tonight and I am proud for her."
Although the Sun Devils were unable to complete what would have been a gutsy comeback, they did show incredible fight down the stretch, and will provide ASU a solid foundation to build on when the team faces second-ranked USC this Sunday.
"There are not many teams taking anything away from USC, UCLA or Stanford," Winkworth said of the challenge in Sunday's match. "There is nothing to lose going into these games. The ladies just need to be brave. We need to defend well and courageous in playing our style of soccer. There is nothing to fear, and I hope that we see from tonight that we can play with an elite opponent. We can take that type of confidence into Sunday's match against what is a very talented USC team."
Sunday's match is scheduled for a noon kickoff and will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Network. Fans can also follow all of the action from the Sun Devil soccer season by following @SunDevilSoccer on Twitter.
"I was very happy with the way we played tonight," head coach Graham Winkworth said of his team's effort. "They have worked extremely hard and they played brave, attractive soccer. They countered extremely well. If you take the first 20 minutes out of the match it was a very close game. I think we went in with a little bit of the deer in headlights look to start the match and unfortunately that cost us. The ladies have been fantastic all season, and tonight they were fantastic once again."
The home team wasted no time getting the offense started, scoring the go-ahead goal in just the second minute of the match, following the effort with yet another goal in the 17th- minute.
Looking to cut into the lead, the Sun Devils saw their first opportunity come in the 23rd minute when freshman midfielder Marleen Schimmer played a beautiful pass forward to senior Casey Martinez who fired in a shot that was saved by the UCLA keeper.
The Sun Devils would stay on the attack late in the first half, earning a pair of corners and three more shots, but the 15th- ranked Bruins were able to turn the opportunities away to keep ASU off the board.
Coming out of the halftime break, UCLA extended their lead to 3-0 with a goal in the 61st minute, forcing the Sun Devils to dig deep and try to respond in the final 29 minutes of the match.
Senior defender Jemma Purfield made it clear she was up for the challenge, breaking through the stout Bruin defense in the 73rd- minute, puling the score to a 3-1 lead for the home-side.
"Jem put forth some great tackles tonight," Winkworth said of his senior's all around performance in the match. "She is playing left back so the first thing she has got to do is defend. She did a great job limiting their chances down the right side and that was what I was most proud with. Later in the game she did a great job making the last 20 minutes of the match a little more nervy than UCLA would have liked. I was happy for her to get off the mark for the season, and I thought she put in a solid performance. I was really pleased with her and her team overall."
The goal by Purfield seemed to be all the Sun Devils needed to get things going on the offensive side as the Sun Devils would threaten with a pair of free kicks in the proceeding minutes that would sail just high and make the score final at 3-1 at the final buzzer.
In the loss, senior Sydney Day played an incredible game in goal. The senior, in her first appearance in a Pac-12 game, made a pair of saves and was instrumental in another save that was credited to the team.
"I was so proud for Syd," Winkworth added of his senior keeper. "I talked to her before the game and I told her that she should go enjoy this moment. I felt awful for her to not get the win tonight. I want to credit her with how hard she has worked and how well, and with such character, she has represented ASU. Not only this season, but for the last four years. She should hold her head high because she is a great goalkeeper and has earned the right to play in these big games for us."
Schimmer, a freshman from Mainz, Germany, was another player who played an incredible game in the Sun Devil loss. The midfielder was just a couple inches shy of dropping two free kicks into the back of the net, and would have been credited with an assist on Martinez' near goal in the first half. Playing in arguably the Sun Devils' most difficult match to this point in the season, Schimmer played a season high 88 minutes.
"I thought Schimmy was fantastic," Winkworth said of Marleen's game. "She demonstrated today why she is a Sun Devil. She showed today what we have been looking for all season. I am delighted for her and for the team. I think she will have a big part to play for the remainder of the season if she can continue to play at the level she played tonight. All she has to do is just show that consistency, but she was fantastic tonight and I am proud for her."
Although the Sun Devils were unable to complete what would have been a gutsy comeback, they did show incredible fight down the stretch, and will provide ASU a solid foundation to build on when the team faces second-ranked USC this Sunday.
"There are not many teams taking anything away from USC, UCLA or Stanford," Winkworth said of the challenge in Sunday's match. "There is nothing to lose going into these games. The ladies just need to be brave. We need to defend well and courageous in playing our style of soccer. There is nothing to fear, and I hope that we see from tonight that we can play with an elite opponent. We can take that type of confidence into Sunday's match against what is a very talented USC team."
Sunday's match is scheduled for a noon kickoff and will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Network. Fans can also follow all of the action from the Sun Devil soccer season by following @SunDevilSoccer on Twitter.