Sept. 6, 2009
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State women's soccer team played eighth-ranked Virginia to a 1-1 tie on Sunday in the final game of the Sun Devil Desert Classic.
Coming off a 1-0 win against Old Dominion on Friday, the Sun Devils (3-1-1) were faced with their toughest challenge to date as they were going up against a Virginia squad that had outscored its opponents a combined 16-2 in its first four games of the season.
Less than 10 minutes into the game the Cavaliers (3-1-1) jumped on top of the Sun Devils 1-0 when sophomore forward Lauren Alwine took a pass from teammate Meghan Lenczyk and was able to find the far left corner of the goal.
After Virginia's early goal the momentum would slowly start to shift in ASU's favor as substitutions Kiara Williams, Lindsey Johns and Karin Volpe helped to jumpstart ASU's attack. In the 20th minute the cumulative effects of ASU's attack would pay dividends when Williams took a pass from Volpe and fired a shot into the far post to tie the game at 1-1.
The two teams would go back and forth, playing on relatively even terms for the next 90 minutes, which included a pair of 10-minute overtime periods. However in the end neither squad was able to put away the go-ahead goal.
Playing a big role in helping Sun Devil goalkeeper Briana Silvestri (six saves) keep the Cavaliers from scoring over the last 100 minutes of action were senior defender Liz Harkin and sophomore defender Katie Shepard, who along with Williams were named to the Sun Devil Desert Classic All-Tournament Team with Harkin earning Defensive MVP honors.
The Sun Devils return to action next Friday at 7 p.m. when they host San Diego State at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.
2009 Sun Devil Desert Classic All-Tournament Team
ASU: Liz Harkin (Sr., D), Katie Shepard (So., D), Kiara Williams (Fr., F)
Virginia: Emily Carrollo (Fr., F/D), Sinead Farrelly (Jr., M), Caitlin Miskel (Sr., F),
Arizona: Renae Cuellar (So., F), Samantha Drees (Sr., M/F), Karli Hedlund (Fr., D)
ODU: Lisa Bernardini (So., D), Brittney Kortz (Sr., D), Ashley Kukura (Jr., M)
Offensive MVP: Sinead Farrelly (Virginia)
Defensive MVP: Liz Harkin (ASU)