MORGANTOWN, W.V. – The Sun Devil Soccer program was unable to leave West Virginia with three points after falling to the West Virginia Mountaineers, 2-0, on Sunday to cap its two-match East Coast swing that began in Cincinnati five days ago.
After racking up three of its six first-half shot attempts over the first 26 minutes of the match, West Virginia (8-2-2, 3-0-2) broke the 0-0 tie when Maddie Levy received a pass inside the WVU attacking 18-yard box and sent it past a diving Pauline Nelles and into the top-right corner of the goal. Meanwhile, the Arizona State offense was not credited with a shot attempt throughout the first 45 minutes.
But despite not being credited with a shot attempt during the first half, the Arizona State offense finished the match with six, which is the most by a Big 12 opponent in Morgantown this season. In fact, the only team with more shot attempts against the WVU defense at Dick Dlesk Soccer Stadium in 2025 is No. 1 Virginia, which had nine in a 1-0 Cavalier win on Thursday, Aug. 14.
West Virginia added its second goal of the match with 64 seconds remaining in regulation when Sophia Nickel lined up a shot attempt from 40 yards out after Nelles was pushing upfield trying to help spark an ASU offensive threat in the match’s closing minutes.
From head coach Graham Winkworth
"West Virginia did a much better job than we did in possession in the first half. We were not composed enough when we had the ball, so we spent most of the first half defending. Despite this, we still limited the chances they had, but unfortunately, they were able to take one. The second half was much better. We kept the ball for longer periods and created some quality chances both from open play and set pieces. Unfortunately, we could not show enough quality in the penalty box and it has cost us again.
We must continue to work hard. I was happy with the team's response, and we are still created great chances in a tough places to play. We will take some time to charge the batteries and look forward to another weekend away next week. To split the weekend on the road is not a bad trip, and we can take the positive that we were solid for three of the four halves we played."
Match notes
- By earning the starting assignment for Arizona State between the pipes on Sunday, senior goalkeeper Pauline Nelles became just the third goalkeeper in program history to play in 70 or more career matches. She joins Chandler Morris (78; 2011-15) and Erin Reinke (73; 1997-00).
- By playing all 90 minutes of Sunday’s contest, Arizona State senior Pauline Nelles (6,229:52) passed Kim Bingham (6,156:41; 2003-06) for the third most career minutes played by a Sun Devil goalkeeper.
- By being credited with six shot attempts throughout Sunday’s match, the Arizona State offense has now accounted for 200 (205) shot attempts on the season.
- On Sunday, the Sun Devils’ nine corner kicks against the Mountaineers marked the sixth match this season with nine or more corner kicks. The Sun Devils’ corner kick total against WVU was also the second most against a Big 12 opponent this season after having 11 against Oklahoma State on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025.
- After making her season debut and playing only 26 minutes against then-No. 10 BYU on Thursday, Sept. 19, Arizona State sophomore Kierra Blundell played a season-high 45 minutes against the Mountaineers on Sunday. It’s the most minutes played for Blundell since totaling 77 against Kansas on Oct. 30, 2024.
Up next
- Arizona State (9-2-2, 2-2-1) will conclude its three-match road tilt on Friday, Oct. 10, when the Sun Devils travel to Prentup Field in Boulder, Colorado, to face Colorado (9-1-2, 3-0-1) at 6 p.m. MST.
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