TUCSON, Ariz. -- Despite a physical battle and a backstop performance by goalkeeper Giulia Cascapera, the No. 16 Arizona State soccer team suffered its first loss of the season at Arizona on Friday night.
The match between ASU (6-1-2) and UArizona (6-3-0) does not count toward conference standings, making the Sun Devils still undefeated in Pac-12 Conference play.
In her eighth start of the season, Cascapera came up with five saves on the night, her second-most in a single game this season. UArizona scored one goal at 32:47 while holding ASU scoreless. The Wildcats outshot the Sun Devils 17-8 through 90 minutes.
UP NEXT: ASU enjoys a full week before traveling to No. 3 UCLA (8-0-1) on Friday, March 26, to resume conference play.
A WORD WITH WINKWORTH On overall play "Overall pleased with our defensive effort. I think we were much better than 18 months ago when we went down to Tucson. We limited their chances much more, and we need to do a better job of not allowing them to get easy set pieces, but I think we defended well, particularly our backline, through 90 minutes. We got beat on a set-piece which is disappointing, but I thought we defended pretty well. I was a little bit disappointed with our level of how we competed in the first half, but I thought we were much better in the second half in that respect."
On playing Arizona twice this season "Arizona has a really distinct way of playing, and they're not going to adapt the way they play. We know that they play very aggressive, that they're going to kick a lot of balls longer and behind, so we can prepare for that. But that's not going to change between now and the next time we play. No knock on the way they play. It's very effective, they're a very direct team, and they're very good at being a very direct team, so credit to them for getting the result. We need to stamp our style of soccer on the next time we play and not turn the game into the type of soccer that suits our opponents, which at times I thought we did today. I look forward to having an opportunity to play them at home."
On the group of forwards "I thought our backline performed physically, but to be honest, we're not scoring enough goals at the moment, and we do need other players to step up and put the ball in the back of the net. I don't think we got behind their backline enough today and can't rely on one player to score the goals, so I'm hoping we continue to work hard in practice, and I believe in all of our forwards. I think we've got some great forwards, and I know multiple players can step up and share the load of goal-scoring moving forward. I'm very happy with our group of players. I believe in the 100% we've just got to keep working hard."
On Jaylin's season debut "Jaylin works extremely hard in practice, and she is maybe the best header on the ball on the team. She has earned that right. I told her when she was added to the travel roster that I'm really proud of her, and when I called her up to let her know she was going to go in tonight, a ghosty look went over her face, and I think she was nervous at first, but I told her to just 'go enjoy and win the headers. We're gonna get one more set piece in the attacking third, and you're gonna score a goal on that head.' And sure enough, we did, and unfortunately, we weren't able to finish it but saying that, I'm really proud of her and really pleased for her. She's a worker."
The match between ASU (6-1-2) and UArizona (6-3-0) does not count toward conference standings, making the Sun Devils still undefeated in Pac-12 Conference play.
In her eighth start of the season, Cascapera came up with five saves on the night, her second-most in a single game this season. UArizona scored one goal at 32:47 while holding ASU scoreless. The Wildcats outshot the Sun Devils 17-8 through 90 minutes.
Midfielder Eva van Deursen led the offensive charge for the Sun Devils, notching two shots in 90 minutes. Substitutes Tahlia Herman-Watt and Cori Sullivan played nearly half the match and combined for two shots against the Wildcats. Defender Jaylin Borden made her season debut in the 80th minute of play.5th save of the night is a big one
— Sun Devil Soccer (@SunDevilSoccer) March 20, 2021
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UP NEXT: ASU enjoys a full week before traveling to No. 3 UCLA (8-0-1) on Friday, March 26, to resume conference play.
A WORD WITH WINKWORTH On overall play "Overall pleased with our defensive effort. I think we were much better than 18 months ago when we went down to Tucson. We limited their chances much more, and we need to do a better job of not allowing them to get easy set pieces, but I think we defended well, particularly our backline, through 90 minutes. We got beat on a set-piece which is disappointing, but I thought we defended pretty well. I was a little bit disappointed with our level of how we competed in the first half, but I thought we were much better in the second half in that respect."
On playing Arizona twice this season "Arizona has a really distinct way of playing, and they're not going to adapt the way they play. We know that they play very aggressive, that they're going to kick a lot of balls longer and behind, so we can prepare for that. But that's not going to change between now and the next time we play. No knock on the way they play. It's very effective, they're a very direct team, and they're very good at being a very direct team, so credit to them for getting the result. We need to stamp our style of soccer on the next time we play and not turn the game into the type of soccer that suits our opponents, which at times I thought we did today. I look forward to having an opportunity to play them at home."
On the group of forwards "I thought our backline performed physically, but to be honest, we're not scoring enough goals at the moment, and we do need other players to step up and put the ball in the back of the net. I don't think we got behind their backline enough today and can't rely on one player to score the goals, so I'm hoping we continue to work hard in practice, and I believe in all of our forwards. I think we've got some great forwards, and I know multiple players can step up and share the load of goal-scoring moving forward. I'm very happy with our group of players. I believe in the 100% we've just got to keep working hard."
On Jaylin's season debut "Jaylin works extremely hard in practice, and she is maybe the best header on the ball on the team. She has earned that right. I told her when she was added to the travel roster that I'm really proud of her, and when I called her up to let her know she was going to go in tonight, a ghosty look went over her face, and I think she was nervous at first, but I told her to just 'go enjoy and win the headers. We're gonna get one more set piece in the attacking third, and you're gonna score a goal on that head.' And sure enough, we did, and unfortunately, we weren't able to finish it but saying that, I'm really proud of her and really pleased for her. She's a worker."