CINCINNATI, Ohio – In a night when the Sun Devil Soccer defense clamped down on the Cincinnati offense, Arizona State senior goalkeeper Pauline Nelles tied the program’s career clean sheet record with her 24th courtesy of ASU’s 1-0 victory against the Bearcats on Thursday night. Nelles tied Chandler Morris (2011-15) for the most clean sheets in program history.
As the majority of Thursday’s match was spent in the Cincinnati defensive half of the pitch, Nelles faced just five shot attempts – only three on goal – throughout the duration of the contest. The lone scoring threat by the Bearcats occurred during the 58th minute, when Kayla Gaynor had a breakaway, 1-on-1 opportunity against Nelles, who kept the shot out of the net with a sliding stop outside the 6-yard box.
Two minutes later, Megan Smith had a shot from distance saved by Nelles as ease. Nelles’ lone other save on the evening came just six minutes into the match when she stopped a Coley Sidloski shot attempt.
Following Grace Gillard’s late goal in the second half, Cincinnati spent the last minute and a half in its attacking third of the pitch, but a Sidloski shot attempt with 22 seconds left in regulation was blocked by a Sun Devil defender and never made its way to Nelles.
From head coach Graham Winkworth
"I was pleased with the composure and patience the girls demonstrated. We did not stray away from trying to play an attractive style while creating many good chances. We always felt there would be another good opportunity. Although we did not manage to put one of those chances away, I am delighted that we are back on track by scoring from a set piece. This has been an area of improvement from last season and I’m buzzing for our skipper to finally break her duck for the season. I thought she was excellent tonight and led the team incredibly well."
MATCH NOTES
- Arizona State senior midfielder Brianna Nunley earned her second career starting assignment on Thursday afternoon. It’s the Chandler, Ariz., native’s first start for the Sun Devils since Aug. 18, 2024, when ASU beat Wagner, 6-0,
- Oona Hartman played 36 minutes off the bench on Thursday night. It’s just the third match this season for the sophomore and the most minutes played since logging 40 against Wagner on Aug. 18, 2024.
- By finishing Thursday’s match with three saves, Arizona State senior goalkeeper Pauline Nelles now has 265 career saves, which moves her past Kim Bingham (2003-06) for third on the program’s career saves list.
- Grace Gillard’s match-winning goal at the 88:24 mark of the second half marked the 15th-latest goal in program. It was the latest goal by a Sun Devil since Ella Opkvitne scored at 89:03 against New Mexico State on Aug. 24, 2023.
- By outshooting Cincinnati 16-5, Arizona State has now been credited with more stop attempts than its opponent in 11 of its 12 matches this season.
- The result also marks the first-ever win for Arizona State women’s soccer in the state of Ohio.
UP NEXT
- Arizona State (9-1-2, 2-1-1) will now travel from Cincinnati, Ohio to Morgantown, West Virginia, where the Sun Devils will play the Mountaineers (7-2-2, 2-0-2) at 9 a.m. MST / 12 p.m. EST on Sunday, Oct. 5. The Mountaineers enter the match riding an eight-match unbeaten streak following a 3-0 win over Arizona on Thursday night.
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