Tempe, Ariz.-- The Arizona State soccer team concluded their 2018 regular season falling to No.1 Stanford, 4-1, Sunday at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.
"First of all, credit to Stanford, they're PAC-12 champions because they're the best team in the country playing in the best league in the country," head coach Graham Winkworth said. "I want to congratulate coach Radcliffe on the fantastic job he's done once again. What a brilliant team he's got. We conceded a free kick and the young lady put a wonder strike in. Outside of that, I thought the two best chances in the first half fell to us. If you were just watching, you probably didn't know which team was number one in the first half. In the second half they just had too much for us. They are the best team in the country playing in the strongest league and I just want to give a lot of credit to Stanford."
The Sun Devils put together offensive runs early in the first half, but none came to fruition.
Five minutes into the game Eva Van Duerson intercepted a pass and found a streaking Marleen Shimmer who fired in a shot that was saved by Stanford goalkeeper Lauren Rood.
Later in the half ASU Casey Martinez made a run in the box before passing it off to a cutting Cori Sullivan who fired in a shot that sailed just wide of the net.
A foul call at the 19-minute mark preceded Jordan Dibiasi blasting a free kick goal at the box to give Stanford the 1-0 lead.
"I thought I got the ball," Purfield said. "Sometimes those decisions go against you and you have to bounce back and we did. We bounced back and held our own all 90 minutes, so I'm proud of the team and proud of our performance."
ASU nearly found an equalizer at the 30-minute mark when Purfield launched a corner kick to Olive Jones who sent a header just above the net.
Following the halftime break, Stanford continued to build momentum as Kuhlmann assisted Dibiasi for her second goal of the game to put the visitors up, 2-0.
The Cardinal continued to build on their lead with another quick goal, but the Sun Devils responded less than a minute later with a goal by Purfield in the 56th minute of the match. The goal by the senior marked just the second goal the Cardinal have conceded in the last eight games, and only the fourth in Pac-12 play.
"They're obviously a very hard team to breakdown," Purfield said. "They have some big strong girls out there, athletes that are technically gifted. A lot of them play for the national teams too, so they're obviously going to be good. When I saw the gap I ran into it and that is kind of what opened it up for me."
At the 70-minute mark, Stanford tacked on yet another score when Kuhlmann capitalized on a penalty kick opportunity and pulled the score to a final, 4-1.
"The effort was there from everyone today," Pufield said. "The team performance was really good and when you compare that to where we were last year at this time, I think it's a credit to the team. It is a credit to the coaching staff and shows how far we've come as a program."
Following today's game, the Sun Devils will await their fate in the NCAA Postseason, with the field of 64-teams set to be announced Monday at 2:30 p.m. MST. The NCAA Postseason braket will be unveiled in a Selection Show aired on NCAA.com.
"First of all, credit to Stanford, they're PAC-12 champions because they're the best team in the country playing in the best league in the country," head coach Graham Winkworth said. "I want to congratulate coach Radcliffe on the fantastic job he's done once again. What a brilliant team he's got. We conceded a free kick and the young lady put a wonder strike in. Outside of that, I thought the two best chances in the first half fell to us. If you were just watching, you probably didn't know which team was number one in the first half. In the second half they just had too much for us. They are the best team in the country playing in the strongest league and I just want to give a lot of credit to Stanford."
The Sun Devils put together offensive runs early in the first half, but none came to fruition.
Five minutes into the game Eva Van Duerson intercepted a pass and found a streaking Marleen Shimmer who fired in a shot that was saved by Stanford goalkeeper Lauren Rood.
Later in the half ASU Casey Martinez made a run in the box before passing it off to a cutting Cori Sullivan who fired in a shot that sailed just wide of the net.
A foul call at the 19-minute mark preceded Jordan Dibiasi blasting a free kick goal at the box to give Stanford the 1-0 lead.
"I thought I got the ball," Purfield said. "Sometimes those decisions go against you and you have to bounce back and we did. We bounced back and held our own all 90 minutes, so I'm proud of the team and proud of our performance."
ASU nearly found an equalizer at the 30-minute mark when Purfield launched a corner kick to Olive Jones who sent a header just above the net.
Following the halftime break, Stanford continued to build momentum as Kuhlmann assisted Dibiasi for her second goal of the game to put the visitors up, 2-0.
The Cardinal continued to build on their lead with another quick goal, but the Sun Devils responded less than a minute later with a goal by Purfield in the 56th minute of the match. The goal by the senior marked just the second goal the Cardinal have conceded in the last eight games, and only the fourth in Pac-12 play.
"They're obviously a very hard team to breakdown," Purfield said. "They have some big strong girls out there, athletes that are technically gifted. A lot of them play for the national teams too, so they're obviously going to be good. When I saw the gap I ran into it and that is kind of what opened it up for me."
At the 70-minute mark, Stanford tacked on yet another score when Kuhlmann capitalized on a penalty kick opportunity and pulled the score to a final, 4-1.
"The effort was there from everyone today," Pufield said. "The team performance was really good and when you compare that to where we were last year at this time, I think it's a credit to the team. It is a credit to the coaching staff and shows how far we've come as a program."
Following today's game, the Sun Devils will await their fate in the NCAA Postseason, with the field of 64-teams set to be announced Monday at 2:30 p.m. MST. The NCAA Postseason braket will be unveiled in a Selection Show aired on NCAA.com.