Marcisz stunner the difference in ASU’s hard-fought win over New Mexico State

(Photo: Jack Simon/WCSN)

TEMPE – As Arizona State forward Cameron Valladares danced around a New Mexico State defender on the right wing, she looked for a shot to break the scoreless deadlock against NMSU on a windy Sunday night at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium. 

The senior’s ball ricocheted off an Aggie defender, landing directly towards the feet of junior midfielder Payton Marcisz. The San Mateo, Calif., native instinctively got the ball out on her opposite foot, sending a screamer to the top left corner of the net to open the scoring in the 22nd minute.

“If that’s her weak foot,” Sun Devils’ head coach Graham Winkworth said. “I can’t wait to see her strong one, because that was beautiful.”

The Aggies would not allow that mistake to repeat itself; aggressive, desperate defense amidst an offensive onslaught from the Sun Devils kept the door open until the end of the contest. Yet, the NMSU (1-5) offense was unable to respond, letting the Sun Devils (4-0-1) walk away with a 1-0 victory. 

“I love my team,” Marcisz said. “I love showing up for them, so it was really for them.”

While the Aggies’ defense had an impact on Sunday’s tight final score, a shutout from ASU’s back line was the deciding factor in its victory. Senior goalkeeper Pauline Nelles recorded four saves throughout the night, including a diving deflection in the 62nd minute to keep the Aggies off the scoresheet. 

Sunday was Nelles’ 21st career shutout, leaving her only three away from tying the school record. 

“That’s what world-class goalkeepers do,” Winkworth said. “She might not have anything to do for 90 minutes, but world-class goalkeepers need to keep their concentration, and they have to show up for one moment. That was a great moment for her… If we don’t have a player like Pauly, we go home disappointed with a 1-1.”

The Sun Devils recorded 17 shots in Sunday’s game, only six of which were on goal. 

A 35% shot on goal percentage for Winkworth’s squad was drastically different from its match against UNLV, where ten of the Sun Devils’ 12 shots were on target. 

“There were still elements that we weren’t doing well enough,” Winkworth said. “Some of our decision-making was poor, but we never really felt too threatened.”

Despite the victory, ASU repeatedly left possible goals on the table, especially in the second half. The Sun Devils did well to get into the attacking third and swing crosses into the 18-yard box but lacked the end product to hand the Aggies their fourth-straight multi-goal defeat.

“We weren’t good enough in the final third today,” Winkworth said. “Somebody’s got to get on the end of those balls. But overall, we did that very well seven days ago in Texas State, so I can’t have it in every way.”

ASU did much of its forward damage on the wings, particularly on the right side, through a potent, two-player attack of Valladares and senior attacking midfielder Tatum Thomason.

After her incidental assist in the first half, Valladares continued to be selfless with the ball. Although she was unable to tack on another goal for Arizona State, her positive forward movement and ability to groove past defenders kept NMSU on the back foot for much of the second half and stymied any real threat of a comeback.

“Cam’s doing a good job; she’s very dangerous in that white area,” Winkworth said. “I love her when she goes 1v1 at people, like those little details that don’t show up on the statistics board.”

Sunday’s win marked the eighth consecutive August without a defeat for Winkworth’s program. Yet, as the autumn air brings dropping temperatures to the Valley, the Sun Devils have displayed a trend of cooling down with them.

Pepperdine and Denver, two of ASU’s best out-of-conference opponents, are next up for Winkworth’s squad as it aims to keep the momentum rolling into Big 12 play. 

“I think that’ll be a big test for us because we have a lot of speed on the side,” Marcisz said. “Can we control the game? Can we get the ball on the floor when we need to and really play some good soccer against a good soccer team? It will be a tough test, but I’m excited.”

Use Facebook to Comment on this Post