ASU Soccer: Sullivan’s overtime score leads to upset of No. 3 UCLA

It had been 936 days since Cori Sullivan had scored her last goal, but the wait that included a knee injury and a global pandemic felt worth it on Friday night.

Nicole Douglas and Olivia Nguyen created a buildup with a lot of potential for a game-winning goal and Sullivan got the chance in the 99th minute.

The Arizona-native received the cross from Douglas and put it past UCLA goalkeeper Lauren Brzykcy to net Arizona State (7-1-2, 3-0-2 Pac-12) a 2-1 win over No. 3 UCLA (8-1-1, 5-1-0) for only the second time in program history.

The Sun Devils appeared to have their strongest game attacking wise, despite not scoring a goal until the 83rd minute.

The equalizer came with a bit of help from the Bruins. Nguyen had a clean look and sent in a low cross that took a few bounces off of a UCLA player and barely squeaked over the goal line.

Arizona State had five shots on goal by the end of it. Nguyen took a shot in the eighth minute that forced Brzykcy to make a leaping save. Douglas also just missed putting her head on an excellent cross in the 29th minute.

Graham Winkworth’s backline did a tremendous job against a Bruin team that came into the matchup averaging over two goals per game.

UCLA’s lone goal deserved its own credit. Mia Fishel made a tremendous touch and move before firing a shot off the post. UCLA’s Kaila Novak sent the rebound into the back of the net in the 17th minute to give her team the lead.

Outside of a save by Giulia Cascapera on a Marley Canales shot early in the second half, UCLA didn’t put a lot of pressure on ASU from there on out. The Bruins sent out 15 shots, but only three were on goal and they were caught offsides three times.

Arizona State returns home after five straight games on the road. They will host Cal and Stanford in Tempe on April 2 and 4.