The Mountaineers opened aggressively, pressuring ASU on both sides of the ball.

That aggression paid off in the 27th minute, when sophomore midfielder Maddie Levy scored for a 1-0 West Virginia lead. 

In traffic around the front of the net, senior forward Ajanae Respass received a pass from junior forward/midfielder Anna Hauer, which she immediately tapped back to Levy.

Levy placed the ball perfectly in the right corner of the net, just beyond the outstretched arms of a diving Sun Devil senior goalkeeper Pauline Nelles. The goal was the fifth of the season for Levy.

Now with the one-goal-lead, the Mountaineers were not content to tone down their aggressive style of play. They were successful, as shots were extremely difficult to come by for the Sun Devils.

In the 89th minute, sophomore defender Sophia Nickel sealed the win with an unassisted goal, her first as a Mountaineer. 

With the Sun Devils in their final late-game effort to push across a game-tying goal, Nelles came off the line to receive the ball after the Mountaineers cleared it. 

Nelles passed the ball to senior defender Grace Gillard, but Nickel took it away. Just past midfield into ASU territory, Nickel was all alone in a race toward the net.

Nelles was unable to retreat to the net in time, and Nickel put it in from distance to neutralize the Sun Devils' hopes of tying the game.

The Sun Devil offense has been on a skid for more than a week, with Sunday’s matchup against West Virginia marking the third time ASU has been shut out in the past four games.

The Sun Devils have not been shut out until the matchup with Oklahoma State on September 25th that began the offensive skid. 

With six games remaining in Big 12 Conference play, the schedule doesn’t get any easier for ASU. As of the current rankings, the Sun Devils will not play another unranked team at home this regular season.