SALT LAKE CITY – Still in position to earn a berth in the upcoming Big 12 Conference postseason tournament, the Arizona State women’s soccer program will travel to Salt Lake City, Utah, to square off against the Utah Utes (7-7-3, 2-4-2) at 6:00 p.m. MST on Thursday, Oct. 23.
Arizona State and Utah enter the match with eight points in the conference standings, a tie for 10th place; only teams in the top eight spots earn a berth into the league’s postseason tournament.
Television
- Bill Riley (play-by-play) and Jay Nolly (analyst) will serve as the broadcast crew for Thursday afternoon’s match, which will be available to watch on ESPN+.
Series history
- Heading into Thursday’s match, Arizona State will be looking for its first win over Utah in Salt Lake City since Nov. 2, 2014, when the Sun Devils knocked off the Utes 2-1. In the 2014 matchup, ASU took a 1-0 lead with a 20th-minute goal, before extending its lead with a 68th-minute goal. Utah scored its lone goal in the 76th minute.
- Arizona State will be looking for its first outright win over Utah since Oct. 31, 2021, when the Sun Devils beat the Utes, 4-1, in Tempe. ASU took a 1-0 lead with a goal during the match’s third minute, before Utah scored the equalizer seven minutes later. The Sun Devils went on to take the lead with a 16th-minute goal and then scored two second-half goals.
- Arizona State will enter Thursday’s matchup against Utah with a 1-6-1 record in matches played in Salt Lake City. Overall, the Sun Devils are 6-8-4 against the Utes.
- 14, 2022 marked the only time Arizona State recorded a clean sheet against Utah in 18 all-time matchups. Sun Devil goalkeeper Pauline Nelles was credited with nine saves on 16 Utes' shot attempts throughout the 90-minute contest.
- Arizona State is 6-0-2 all-time against Utah when scoring two or more goals in a single match. The last time the Sun Devils won 4-1 was Oct. 31, 2021.
Kicking off
- With her next assist, Cameron Valladares (9; 2025) will tie Eva van Deursen (10; 2021) for the most assists by a Sun Devil women’s soccer student-athlete in a single season in program history.
- If she is credited with five saves throughout Thursday’s match, Arizona State senior goalkeeper Pauline Nelles (286; 2022-P) will pass Chandler Morris (290; 2011-15) for second place on the program’s career saves list.
- A clean sheet over Utah on Thursday afternoon would make Pauline Nelles the only goalkeeper in Arizona State women’s soccer history to have multiple seasons with seven or more clean sheets. Nelles also had nine clean sheets throughout the 2023 campaign.
- Additionally, if Pauline Nelles (24; 2022-P) is credited with a solo clean sheet on Thursday, she will pass Chandler Morris (24; 2011-15) and become the program’s new leader in career clean sheets with 25.
- By playing eight seconds of Thursday’s match, Pauline Nelles (6499:52) will join Chandler Morris (7124:06; 2011-15) as the only goalkeepers in Arizona State women’s soccer history to play 6500-or-more career minutes between the pipes.
- If she appears in Thursday’s meeting against Utah, Pauline Nelles (73) will join Chandler Morris (78; 2011-15) as the only goalkeepers in Arizona State women’s soccer history to appear in 74-or-more career matches. Nelles is tied with Erin Reinke (73; 1997-00) for second place on the program’s career matches played list by ASU goalkeepers.
Follow us
Stay connected with Sun Devil Soccer on social media throughout the season by following @SunDevilSoccer on Instagram, X, Facebook and sundevils.com. General athletic news can also be found at @TheSunDevils on X, Instagram and Facebook.