No.1 UCLA (11-0-1, 4-0-0 Pac-12) defeated ASU women's soccer (4-6-2, 1-2-1 Pac-12) in a 3-0 win.
Prior to the match ASU's senior forward Jazmarie Mader and sophomore forward/midfielder Christina Edwards were seen kneeling during the national anthem, along with several others from UCLA.
ASU head coach Graham Winkworth said after the game that Mader spoke with her prior to kneeling during the anthem.
"Here at ASU we support our student-athletes in whatever their beliefs are and I support them," Winkworth said.
Mader explained that she had been contemplating kneeling during the national anthem for quite some time.
"I think people are reading into it (kneeling during the national anthem) in so many different ways and the fact of the matter is the world is hurting," Mader said.
Edwards, the other Sun Devil to join Mader during the national anthem, said that Mader texted the team about her possibly kneeling.
"She (Mader) put it in our group message ahead of time and said, 'Hey I ran it by coach and he's supportive. Anyone would like to join me let me know,'" Edwards said. "Of course I would love to join her, she's my teammate – she's my sister and I support anything she believes in."
Mader said she made sure with everyone including the athletic department if it would be okay if she knelt during the national anthem.
"The platform that I have as a student-athlete, I should stand for equality and the rights of everybody," Mader said.
During the game, UCLA played much like Stanford did last Sunday against the Sun Devils.
UCLA junior forward Hailie Mace ended the game with a brace and redshirt sophomore midfielder Anika Rodriguez added one of her own before it was all said and done.
The Bruins were dynamic in interchanging their front three, making it difficult for the ASU's back three to stay organized. UCLA out shot the Sun Devils 19 to 7 and had nine on target compared to ASU's four.
After a four pass combination in front of the ASU penalty box, a fortunate deflection on a through ball fell to the feet of Mace who put it past ASU freshman keeper Nikki Panas.
The Sun Devils did a decent job keeping the Bruins from finding the back of the net in the first half with a change from a back four to a back three and with the insertion of freshman forward Olive Jones as the right center back.
"Olive is a good center forward but is also a very good center back," Winkworth said. "I told her in a chat, 'If you make any errors this week, I'm throwing you as a freshman, in a new position, against the No.1 team in the nation, and if you make any errors they're on me.'"
However, less than 10 minutes into the second half Mace found the net a second time from the penalty mark, this time on a handball call in the box in the 52nd minute of play.
Just two minutes later, UCLA played a cross to Rodriguez who hit it off the post. Fortunately for her, the ball bounced back to her feet and she finished it on an open net.
With this victory over the Sun Devils, UCLA extended their winning streak to four, while ASU dropped their second match in a row.
ASU will take on No. 6 USC at home on Oct. 8 at 1 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at jaramo12@asu.edu or follow @hor_hay10 on Twitter.
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