Aug. 31, 2007
Las Vegas - The 2007 Arizona State soccer season opened Friday evening as the Sun Devils shutout Idaho State, 1-0, at Peter Johann Memorial Field in Las Vegas. The Sun Devils are now 1-0-0, while the Bengals drop to 0-1-0 on the season.
It was the first win at ASU for new head coach Kevin Boyd. Boyd took over the ASU program in March. Prior to taking over at ASU, Boyd was the head coach at California for 10 seasons.
"It's great to get a win," Boyd said. "It was not the prettiest win possible, but we'll take it. We played a much better second half. (Freshman) Erica Long really stepped up and changed the pace of the game for us."
Junior Carla Scanniello, a 2005 transfer from the University of Memphis, scored the lone goal for the Sun Devils. Scanniello's game-winning shot came in the second half during the 50th minute of play off a pass from sophomore Liz Harkin. The goal marked the first for Scanniello as a Sun Devil and the seventh of her career. Scanniello also recorded the second game-winning goal of her career.
The defense, led by Harkin, proved strong for the Sun Devils as they held Idaho State to only six shots. Sophomore Briana Silvestri started her first collegiate game at goalkeeper for ASU and came away with the win.
"The unsung hero for us was Liz Harkin," Boyd said. "She not only assisted on Carla's goal, but she also saved one for us off our goal line."
When opening the season away from Tempe, the Sun Devils are now 7-2-0, while also improving their overall record to 8-3-1 in season openers.
Up next, the Sun Devils remain in Las Vegas to take on the Rebels of UNLV. The game is set for Sunday, Sept. 2 at 1:30 p.m. at Peter Johann Memorial Field.