Los Angeles -- Arizona State went toe-to-toe with No. 2 USC, but ultimately fell to the Trojans, 3-1, Sunday afternoon.
"To beat a team of this quality you don't just have to work hard, you also have to have 11 players at the top of their game," head coach Graham Winkworth said of Sunday's match. "Today I want to praise my team and how hard they worked. USC, I think, was the better team today. They deserved this victory. They are very well coached and have some excellent players. I didn't think we were all quite at the races, and some of their players were able to win those individual battles. I am really proud of our effort and I am really proud that we continued to play and that we were still in this game towards the end."
The match remained scoreless for the majority of the first half, but USC would take the lead in the 37th- minute when Savannah DeMelo created space outside of the 18-yard box and fired in a strike that tucked just inside the far post.
Coming out of the halftime break, the Trojans continued the pressure as Penelope Hocking fired in a shot that bounced off the post, and just made it over the line to put USC up, 2-0.
The Sun Devils would counter in the 67th- minute when freshman Cori Sullivan flicked a ball forward to senior forward Casey Martinez, who finished from the top of the 18' to pull ASU within striking distance of the home-side.
Looking to possibly send the game into overtime the Sun Devils went on the attack, but the rally would be halted by another unlucky bounce. This time it was sophomore Samantha Bruder who fired in a shot in the 84th- minute that bounced around and just crossed the line to make it a 3-1 Trojan lead.
The Sun Devils put forth an extremely respectable performance in the outing, ending the game with nine of their 12 shots on frame. Defensively, keeper Nikki Panas was tested by the No. 2 Trojans who fired in 32 shots, but only ten on goal.
"Anytime you play the second-ranked team in the nation and your shots on goal are 10-9, you are giving yourself an opportunity to win," Winkworth added. "When the game was just a one-goal game with just over ten minutes to play, you are giving yourself an opportunity against a wonderful team. I thought we kept a decent defensive shape and allowed them to shoot from long distance and we did our best to try and stop them from penetrating. We worked extremely hard and created opportunities of our own."
Sunday's match marked the second straight match against a top-20 opponent for the Sun Devils, who will continue the daunting Pac-12 schedule next weekend with a meeting against No. 1 Stanford at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium (7 p.m. PT). Fans can follow all of the action form the 2018 season by following @SunDevilSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.
"To beat a team of this quality you don't just have to work hard, you also have to have 11 players at the top of their game," head coach Graham Winkworth said of Sunday's match. "Today I want to praise my team and how hard they worked. USC, I think, was the better team today. They deserved this victory. They are very well coached and have some excellent players. I didn't think we were all quite at the races, and some of their players were able to win those individual battles. I am really proud of our effort and I am really proud that we continued to play and that we were still in this game towards the end."
The match remained scoreless for the majority of the first half, but USC would take the lead in the 37th- minute when Savannah DeMelo created space outside of the 18-yard box and fired in a strike that tucked just inside the far post.
Coming out of the halftime break, the Trojans continued the pressure as Penelope Hocking fired in a shot that bounced off the post, and just made it over the line to put USC up, 2-0.
The Sun Devils would counter in the 67th- minute when freshman Cori Sullivan flicked a ball forward to senior forward Casey Martinez, who finished from the top of the 18' to pull ASU within striking distance of the home-side.
Looking to possibly send the game into overtime the Sun Devils went on the attack, but the rally would be halted by another unlucky bounce. This time it was sophomore Samantha Bruder who fired in a shot in the 84th- minute that bounced around and just crossed the line to make it a 3-1 Trojan lead.
The Sun Devils put forth an extremely respectable performance in the outing, ending the game with nine of their 12 shots on frame. Defensively, keeper Nikki Panas was tested by the No. 2 Trojans who fired in 32 shots, but only ten on goal.
"Anytime you play the second-ranked team in the nation and your shots on goal are 10-9, you are giving yourself an opportunity to win," Winkworth added. "When the game was just a one-goal game with just over ten minutes to play, you are giving yourself an opportunity against a wonderful team. I thought we kept a decent defensive shape and allowed them to shoot from long distance and we did our best to try and stop them from penetrating. We worked extremely hard and created opportunities of our own."
Sunday's match marked the second straight match against a top-20 opponent for the Sun Devils, who will continue the daunting Pac-12 schedule next weekend with a meeting against No. 1 Stanford at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium (7 p.m. PT). Fans can follow all of the action form the 2018 season by following @SunDevilSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.