Before Thursday, Oct. 2, Arizona State senior defender Grace Gillard was scoreless on the season despite leading the Sun Devils’ outfield players in minutes played.
However, when freshman defender/midfielder/forward Addison Baltodano’s corner kick sailed into the box with under two minutes to play, Gillard found an opening and netted her first goal of the campaign.
Gillard’s heroics lifted ASU to a 1-0 victory over Cincinnati at Gettler Stadium in Cincinnati on Thursday. The contest was the Sun Devils’ first match on the road in over a month.
ASU dominated the possession battle in the match, outshooting the Bearcats 16-5. Both sides struggled to put shots on goal, as the Sun Devils narrowly held a 5-3 advantage.
Senior goalkeeper Pauline Nelles tallied three saves en route to her sixth shutout, matching her 2024 total. The performance was Nelles’ 25th career shutout, tying Chandler Morris as the all-time leader in shutouts in program history.
For the Bearcats, redshirt senior goalkeeper Camryn Miller finished with four saves.
Gillard’s header goal, assisted by Baltodano, came in the 89th minute, the latest go-ahead goal for ASU this season, and on the Sun Devils’ second consecutive corner kick – The first being awarded after a faulty clearance by Cincinnati senior defender Maddie Swingle, yet the Bearcats cleared it away.
Defensively, Cincinnati held the Sun Devils’ usual attackers in check. Senior midfielder/forward Tatum Thomason, who leads ASU in goals this season with six, was held shotless on Thursday.
On the offensive half, the Bearcats weren’t able to get anything going for all 90 minutes. Senior forward Coley Sidloski finished as the only Cincinnati player with multiple shots in the match with two.
The best chance for the Bearcats came in the second half, when a through ball from Sidloski found freshman defender Kayla Gaynor in open space. However, Nelles deflected away what could have been Gaynor’s first collegiate goal.
Sophomore forward and Big 12 Freshman of the Year Kierra Blundell continued her gradual return to the rotation for head coach Graham Winkworth’s squad, playing a season-high 40 minutes for the Sun Devils. Blundell, who returned from her injury on Sept. 18, is still seeking her first goal of the campaign after leading ASU with nine goals in 2024.
Arizona State improves to 9-2-1 in 2025 and 2-1-1 in Big 12 competition. The Sun Devils travel east to face West Virginia in Morgantown, Sunday at 9 a.m. MST.
Cincinnati falls to 2-5-5 and 0-3-1 in conference play. The Bearcats look to secure their first Big 12 win of the season as they take on Arizona Sunday at 8:30 a.m. MST in Cincinnati.