Entering play on Thursday, Oct. 30, ASU controlled its own destiny, needing to edge the Wildcats to qualify for the postseason. Yet a 0-0 tie eliminated the Sun Devils from a playoff birth.

Head coach Graham Winkwork said the team’s focus is now on the NCAA tournament as a whole.

“We might have to concern ourselves with the NCAA playoffs, but we have to wait and see what happens in regards to the bubble first,” Winkworth said. “But unfortunately we didn’t make the Big 12 playoffs.”

Although the game dashed any dream of a Big 12 championship, ASU attacked early on Thursday, as senior forward Tatum Thomason took an early shot on goal that resulted in an early save by Arizona senior goalkeeper Oliva Ramey. Ramey provided an excellent showing for the Wildcats, as she recorded two saves and shut down any offense. 

Throughout the game, the Sun Devils played most of the game in a 4-3-3 formation while the Wildcats countered in a 4-2-4 formation. 

During the early stages of the game, Arizona controlled much of the pace, being ultra-aggressive not only on offense, but on defense. The Wildcats took six shots in the first period while limiting ASU to just one. 

Senior defender Grace Gillard and senior goalkeeper Pauliene Nelles held down their respective efforts on defense, but the offense could not get anything going. 

Anytime the Sun Devil offense looked to capitalize on the wing and possibly score points, the Wildcats shut down their attempts, or the offense committed a penalty – three offsides penalties by ASU throughout the game hindered any momentum the offense built. 

On the flip side, the Wildcats' best weapon in the first period was their passing. Arizona’s wingers consistently found the open seams in the defense, which led to multiple scoring opportunities. 

With 30 seconds left in the first half, a last-second scoring opportunity opened up for the Sun Devils, which ended after the referee called an offside penalty, 0-0 going into halftime. 

Right off the bat to begin the second half, sophomore forward Jessica Bedolla and the Wildcats pushed the pace on the Sun Devils with two early shot attempts.

Throughout much of the second half, ASU tightened up its defense, not allowing as many passes up the seams and making life much more challenging for the Wildcat offense. 

“We were too open in the first half in our press,” Winkworth said. “They were able to find simple passes. We were much more compact, we were able to break up their passing patterns a little bit more easily and then hit them on the counterattack.” 

Danger almost struck for the Sun Devils, as two close shot attempts came eerily close for Arizona. Sophomore midfielder Lily Boydstum fired a laser of a shot down the middle that hit the crossbar, getting the fans on their feet. 

The second shot came at the 69:09 mark as freshman midfielder Leilani Cortez-Ramirez shot a shot near the box, which Nelles saved. 

Freshman forward Adrielle Mibe and Thomason attempted to create some offense for the Sun Devils down the stretch; however, these efforts proved unsuccessful.

Not even with senior forward Cameron Valladares subbing in late into the game, the wings for ASU failed to convert down the stretch. 

However, freshman forward Addison Baltodano showed off her late-game skills with timely defense, setting herself up and making great passes to her teammates down the stretch. Baltodano was the focal point of why the Sun Devils got close to taking the lead in the ending moments of the game.

“She’s a great player and a great freshman,” Winkworth said. “She's got a very bright future. I think she’s been one of the best freshmen in the Big 12, and hopefully she’ll make the freshman team because of the effort she’s put in.” 

Most of the second period was a defensive slugfest as both teams read each other's moves perfectly, setting up steals and perfect countershots. 

Near the 89:00 minute mark, Nelles left the goal to creep up on the offense. This almost cost  ASU the game, as the Wildcats stole the ball and threatened to score with the goal being left unattended. 

The ball was then intercepted by the Sun Devils, which would lead to the final sequences of the game before the buzzer sounded. 

The game ended in a draw, and ASU finished its 2025 campaign with a 10-5-4 record, but without a playoff birth.

“I am really proud of the girls' efforts when there was only one team that had something to play for tonight,” Winkworth said. “They’ve had a phenomenal season, it’s just unfortunate that too many of the nonconference opponents have had really bad seasons and hurt our strength of schedule.”