Sun Devils dominate Buffalo 5-0 for first home win of the season

(Photo: Jack Simon/WCSN)

TEMPE – As Arizona State led 3-0 with under two minutes remaining in the first half, freshman defender Jenna Whinney stepped up to the penalty spot with an opportunity to put an exclamation point on a dominant half.

Whinney put the ball down on the spot and looked up. She stood and stared at the frame with laser focus.

As the referee whistled, the freshman walked up and buried the ball into the bottom corner with ferocious power–then followed it up with an Antonee Robinson-esque backflip celebration.

Whinney became one of three players to score their first collegiate goals, and helped boost the Sun Devils (2-0-1) to a 5-0 thrashing of Buffalo (2-2-0), for their first regular-season home win.

“Overall, I’m really happy,” Winkworth said. “It was a good squad effort. We knew we were going to have heavy rotation in the first half, and then figure out what we were going to do with the second half based upon how the game went.”

Sophomore forward Bela Puccinelli joined Whinney in scoring her first collegiate goal, as she scored two of the Sun Devils’ five goals on Sunday. Both players were playing in just their third career collegiate games, but have already been trusted as important depth pieces given the nature of the matches.

“When we’re coaching out here, I don’t think about who’s a freshman,” Winkworth said. “I’m just playing a team, and so I don’t even know half the time what year any of them are in when they’re on the pitch. It’s just soccer players.

“So the fact that they’re adapting really quickly and playing with the great leadership that we have within the team is wonderful, and it’s much needed.”

The two rising stars also share the commonality of being foreign-born players. Puccinelli grew up in Brazil before moving to Kansas in 2023, and has made appearances for the U-17 Brazil National Team. Whinney committed to ASU from England, after spending her youth days with Leicester City.

While both come from unique soccer backgrounds, they did agree that one aspect of playing in Tempe has been a hard adjustment – the heat.

“I think that the culture is very different,” Puccinelli said. The way that soccer is here and in Brazil is very different. Like technically, tactically too. So I think it’s very different. I’ve been here for three years already, so I have already adjusted, and I’m having fun.”

“It’s just the style of play,” Whinney said. “I think it’s very high intensity the whole time. England, you used to play 90 minutes, whereas here you come on and off all the time, so it’s just getting used to that. And I think obviously the heat is crazy here, so that’s been a big thing. I think I’ve gotten used to it.”

Though ASU’s players had to adjust to the heat, they were able to use it to their advantage against an opponent from New York. The Sun Devils forced the Bulls to chase for the opening portion of the game before finally breaking them down with two goals from distance.

“I thought we started a bit slow,” Winkworth said. “We weren’t getting quite close enough, and it’s really hot, so it was great. I was asking them to do something that is not easy in these conditions.

“After about 10-15 minutes, I thought we got a lot tighter, and managed to score from (Ella Kettles) off a good press from Peyton (Marcisz). That’s what we’re looking for.”

Once ASU got control of the scoreline, Buffalo struggled to get out of its own half. The Sun Devils were flying numbers forward with Kettles and Marcisz leading the ASU midfield’s charge to inch closer to what Winkworth hopes will be the Sun Devils identity.

“The biggest piece was pressing,” Winkworth said. “Going into this weather, I was a bit apprehensive because it was going to be hot. But if we were going to be successful against them today, we needed to get into their faces a little bit. I thought the girls did a remarkable job.

“Some of the girls, it’s not their natural game, you know. Maybe that’s not their go-to. But today, I thought they all made it their go-to, which was really, really pleasing.”

With the high-intensity press in the 106-degree temperatures, Winkworth deployed 18 different players in hopes of utilizing squad depth while also keeping his star players healthy for a tough non-conference schedule.

“We used seven substitutes,” Winkworth said. “That was all we had available, and so seven substitutes today. And I thought they all did a great job, and I think that gave a lot of players that usually start and play significant minutes a good break.

“We got a big game on Thursday, so hopefully the rest of their legs will be contributing to a solid performance Thursday.”

The Sun Devils will return to the field on Thursday, as they take on their second SEC opponent in the LSU Tigers at 7 p.m. MST in Tempe. ASU looks to use its stretch of difficult non-conference games to build up its Rating Percentage Index, which could be a key attribute in the Sun Devils returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2023.

“It’s not like we’re playing an easy schedule,” Winkworth said. “We got LSU next week and Cal Poly, who won their conference championship next week. The week after, Dartmouth, who won their conference championship, and then some team called North Carolina.

“So it doesn’t get any easier. So this was a great opportunity for the girls to gain some confidence.”