BOULDER, Colo. – On Friday evening, the Sun Devil Soccer program dropped a 2-0 result at No. 24 Colorado to conclude a three-match road tilt during the middle portion of its Big 12 Conference schedule.
Despite a season-high nine saves from senior goalkeeper Pauline Nelles, the Buffaloes (10-2-2, 4-1-1) netted goals in the 31st minute with a goal by Reagan Kotschau that was assisted by Caley Swierenga. The one-goal Colorado lead was doubled 45 minutes later when Jace Holley found the back of the net off a Maddie Sharrer pass.
Arizona State were in prime position to tie the match prior to Holley’s goal as the Sun Devils were credited with five shot attempts during the first 30 minutes of the second half, but none found their way past Colorado’s Jordan Nytes.
Throughout the first half, ASU attempted to take an early-goal lead with four first half shot attempts prior Kotschau’s go-ahead goal during the last 14 minutes of the first half.
FROM HEAD COACH GRAHAM WINKWORTH
"I am really proud of many aspects of the game. Between the penalty boxes, I felt like we controlled the game and were able to move the ball around very well. As we entered the game, we stressed that in order to win tonight though we needed to win both the set piece battle and the penalty box battle.
Unfortunately, we lost both of these tonight and we must work hard to have more quality with the final cross and more desire to attack the ball when we do put quality in. The first goal was very disappointing. We never dropped with the delivery of the set piece and failed to track our runners. It was very preventable. We then went up the other end and missed a couple of golden opportunities that could have changed the result.
Credit to Colorado, they have some very dangerous players in the attacking 3rd who show not only a lot of quality on the ball, but a passion to score goals. We will look forward now to getting back home Thursday against the league leaders. It should be an excellent opportunity for us."
MATCH NOTES
- Arizona State senior goalkeeper Pauline Nelles matched a career high with nine saves, the most in a single match by the Germany native since Oct. 22, 2023, against UCLA. It’s the third career nine-save match for Nelles.
- When including Friday night’s match, Arizona State has been credited with six-or-shot attempts in every Big 12 Conference match so far this season.
- Freshman forward Adrielle Mibe made her seventh start of the season – first against a conference opponent – and first since Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025.
UP NEXT
- Arizona State (9-3-2, 2-3-1) will return to the friendly confines of Tempe to play No. 11 Texas Tech (10-1-2, 4-0-2) on Thursday, Oct. 16 at 7 p.m. MST at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.
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