ASU Soccer: Sun Devils fall in hard-fought match at No. 2 USC

(Photo: Harrison Zhang/WCSN)

Arizona State women’s soccer battled hard in their second match of the week, but the result was the same as it was three days ago. The second-ranked USC Trojans (11–1–1, 4–1–0 Pac-12) controlled the run of play, pounded 32 shots towards the Sun Devil goal, and ended up handing Arizona State (6–5–1, 1–3–1 Pac-12) a 3–1 defeat.

ASU sophomore goalkeeper Nikki Panas was the undoubted star of the show on a sun-drenched Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles. Although only 10 of the Trojans’ 32 total shots were officially on target, Panas came up with saves on seven of those. Many of her stops were of the spectacular variety, including a 32 minute denial of a Savannah DeMelo penalty kick.

No matter how good Panas was, however, the Trojans offense would not be denied. USC opened the scoring in the 37 minute through DeMelo, who made up for her penalty miss just five minutes prior. Off a short corner kick, DeMelo lofted a high ball to the back post. It drifted over the head of Panas, past an onlooking USC attacker, and nestled in the back of the net to put USC in front.

Freshman forward Penelope Hocking would double the USC advantage in the 63 minute, tapping a low cross off the woodwork and in. 21 minutes later, after the Sun Devils had halved the deficit, Samantha Bruder scored the third for the Trojans. Her shot from 20 yards out deflected down off the crossbar, and inched across the line with an assist from the back of a prone Panas.

The Arizona State attack was not toothless in its own right. Senior winger Casey Martinez tallied her second goal of the season in the 67 minute, a rocket that found its way past Kaylie Collins in the USC goal. Cori Sullivan provided the assist, just the second of the season from the freshman midfielder.

Arizona State had several opportunities to tie the game while trailing 2–1, notably a free kick from Marleen Schimmer that was saved comfortably by Collins. Sullivan also had an opportunity after finding some space on the edge of the USC box, but again Collins was in position to make the stop on Sullivan’s low shot.

Kaylie Collins made eight saves for USC, stopping Schimmer three times and both Martinez and Sullivan twice. ASU forced Collins into four saves in each half. Nikki Panas made seven saves, with four of those coming in the first half.

Arizona State has now lost four consecutive matches against the Trojans, dating back to a 2–0 victory on October 17, 2014. USC now holds a 16–7–0 lead in the all-time series. The defeat also means that Arizona State’s winless run against ranked opponents will stretch to 13 games, dating back to a 4–1 victory over No. 23 Arizona to close the 2015 season.

The Sun Devils will return to action next Saturday, October 13. ASU will welcome the top-ranked team in the country, Stanford, to Sun Devil Soccer Stadium for a 7:00 PM kickoff. That match will kick off a three-game homestand for ASU, including games against Washington State and Washington on October 18 and 21.