SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Sun Devil soccer team was unable to extend its remarkable season as the Sun Devils fell to Santa Clara 3-0 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
The Sun Devils were making their second consecutive and third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four years under head coach Graham Winkworth. For the Sun Devils, this year’s berth was a testament to the culture built under the tutelage of Winkworth as ASU entered the 2023 campaign with a cast that did not include the players who accounted for 79 percent of the team’s goals last season.
Despite the challenge in front of them, this year’s Sun Devil team relied on a stout defense and an outstanding goalkeeper in Pauline Nelles, who set the single-season record for shutouts with nine. Nelles, standout defender Lieske Carleer and leading scorer Enasia Colon were named All-Pac-12 Second Team as voted on by the league’s coaches.
As was the case in their last three contests of the regular season, the Sun Devils gave up multiple goals in Saturday’s loss. How rare was such an occurrence during the regular season? In their first 17 games, the Sun Devils gave up multiple goals one time: a 2-1 loss at Stanford.
Statistically, the Broncos (14-4-2) had advantages over the Sun Devils (10-7-4) in shots (13-8), shots on goal (5-3) and corner kicks (5-4).
The Sun Devils got the first opportunity for a set piece when they earned a corner kick in the fourth minute, one of three corner kicks they accumulated in the game’s first 21 minutes.
Santa Clara scored the first goal of the game on the game’s first shot of the game in the seventh minute. Santa Clara’s Colby Barnett was able to dribble her way into the far side of the box, then sent a cross that was met by the head of Sally Mitchell resulting in the goal.
Gabi Rennie nearly set up a dangerous scoring opportunity for the Sun Devils when she got inside the box and slipped a pass to Enasia Colon. ASU’s leading goal scorer this season, Colon had barely a second to react which resulted in her shot being blocked out of bounds.
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