Oct. 1, 2006
TEMPE, Ariz. - In front of a record crowd of 2,136 fans, the Arizona State University soccer team played strong, but the Mexico Women's National Team scored three second-half goals to win the friendly, 3-0, Sunday evening at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium in Tempe. The exhibition match saw the Sun Devils face the No. 26 ranked team in the world, holding their southern neighbors scoreless through the first 45 minutes of play.
The first half saw the Mexican side fire eight shots with ASU keeper Kim Bingham stopping the three sent toward the net, including a spectacular diving save to keep the match scoreless. Despite being out-shot, 8-3, in the first with Mexico taking five corner kicks as well, the Sun Devils continued to preserve the shut out while also attacking the Tricolores' end.
Following the intermission, the two teams picked up the pace with Mexico firing 10 more shots, three of which found the back of the net. In the 55th minute of play, Monica Ocampo carried the ball down the right side and crossed the ball into the box where Guadalupe Worbis headed home the pass for the 1-0 lead.
Ocampo led the Tricolores to their second score as well as Mexico again scored in the 65th minute. Ocampo again carried the ball to the corner before cutting back in to the middle and sliding a pass to Iris Mora, who redirected the ball into the left side netting for the 2-0 lead. Worbis would end the scoring in the 88th minute of play as she scored an unassisted goal after pushing the ball left and hitting the top left corner of the net.
In all, 18 Sun Devils competed in the match, including a pair of keepers in Bingham (six saves, one goal allowed) and Briana Silvestri (one save, one goal allowed). Offensively, Lara Kezer and Courtney Crane each recorded two shots in the match while Bjorg Thordardottir came the closest to scoring for the Sun Devils as her shot found the cross bar.
Arizona State remains home for its next two matches as it opens Pac-10 play next weekend when the Oregon schools visit Tempe. The Sun Devils will play host to Oregon State at 7 p.m. Friday night before closing out the weekend with a 1 p.m. match Sunday with Oregon.