The Sun Devil soccer team opens its 20th season of play on Friday night when it hosts Portland State at 7 p.m. at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium. Click here to watch 2015 preview, featuring head coach Kevin Boyd, senior F Cali Farquharson, senior M Tommi Goodman and sophomore D Madison Stark. Below are details on Friday night’s season opener.
WHAT: Sun Devil Soccer 2015 season opener vs. Portland State
WHEN: Friday at 7 p.m. PT
WHERE: Sun Devil Soccer Stadium • Tempe, Ariz. • Click here to purchase tickets
PROMOTION: Arrive at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium early to get the first schedule poster for the 2015 season featuring one of your favorite Sun Devils! Make sure you collect all three!
TELEVISION: None
LIVE STREAM: http://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university
UP NEXT
The Sun Devil soccer team opens the 2015 season – and the 2015-16 season for Sun Devil Athletics – on Friday night (7 p.m.) when it hosts Portland State at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium. The Sun Devils will then conclude the weekend on Sunday (11 a.m.) when they host Beijing Normal University in an exhibition game that will be televised live by Pac-12 Networks. Admission to Sunday’s game vs. Beijing Normal will be free.
SUN DEVIL STORYLINES
• The 2015 season is the 20th in the history of Sun Devil Soccer.
• The Sun Devils return 12 players who started 10 or more games last season, including senior F Cali Farquharson and senior D McKenzie Berryhill, who both earned All-Pac-12 and NSCAA All-Region honors last season, redshirt senior goalkeeper Chandler Morris, who is No. 2 on ASU’s all-time list for career shutouts (19) and sophomore F Aly Moon, who was named to the Pac-12’s All-Freshman Team in 2014. The team is coming off a campaign in which it advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament and recorded its most wins (12) since 2003.
• This season ASU will be seeking its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in the last seven seasons.
• Head coach Kevin Boyd enters the 2015 season with 199 career wins (124 at Cal/75 at ASU – all-time leader in wins at both schools).
• ASU will face 13 teams that made it to the NCAA Tournament last year, including five schools that were among the final 16: Stanford (NCAA National Semifinals), UCLA (NCAA Fourth Round), Pepperdine (NCAA Third Round), Texas Tech (NCAA Third Round) and Washington (NCAA Third Round). ASU will face Pepperdine (Sept. 11) and Texas Tech (Sept. 13) in back-to-back games at the University of Arizona’s tournament. ASU will also compete against 2014 NCAA Tournament participants Cal, Colorado and Arizona (all three teams made it to the second round of the tournament) and San Diego State, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Washington State, USC.
• In contrast to last season in which it played seven of its first nine games away from home, ASU will play its first four regular season games at home in addition to its home date vs. Beijing Normal in an exhibition game. The first time ASU will play away from home will be when it travels to Tucson for the University of Arizona’s tournament (vs. Pepperdine - Sept. 11 and vs. Texas Tech - Sept. 13). ASU’s first true road game (in which it is playing at its opponent’s venue) does not take place until Sept. 18 when it plays at Oklahoma State. That weekend will conclude with a game at Oklahoma (Sept. 20).
• The Sun Devils were picked to finish fifth in the Pac-12 by the league’s coaches. ASU also received votes in the NSCAA’s Preseason Poll (29th).
• Currently with 34 career goals, Cali Farquharson is in third place on ASU’s all-time list. She needs three goals to tie Patrice Feulner (37/2000-03) for second place and 16 to tie all-time leader Stacey Tullock (50/1998-2001). Farquharson is also fourth on ASU’s all-time list in both points (78) and game-winning goals with 10. She needs two points to move into a tie for third place with Elizabeth Bogus (80/2002-05) on ASU’s all-time points list.
• Farquharson (0.67) and sophomore forward/midfielder Aly Moon (0.48) were the top combination in the Pac-12 in combined goals per game (1.15) in 2014.
• GK Chandler Morris is currently second on ASU’s career shutouts list with 19.0. The school record is held by Erin Reinke (23). Morris’ 7.5 shutouts in 2014 were good for second place on ASU’s single-season shutouts list.
SEASON OPENERS
The Sun Devils are 13-4-2 all time in season openers, including a 6-1-1 record under head coach Kevin Boyd. ASU’s only loss in a season opener under Boyd came in 2012 when it fell at Cal State Northridge, 1-0. Its only tie in a season opener under Boyd came last season when it came back from a two-goal deficit to tie Texas 2-2 in a game that was played in Hawaii. Current Sun Devil senior D McKenzie Berryhill scored both of ASU’s goals in that contest.
SCOUTING PORTLAND STATE
Last year the Vikings won five of their last six games to finish with a 9-6-4 record and second in the Big Sky Conference. Their season ended against NAU in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference Tournament. NAU would go on to win the tournament and the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament where it fell to the Sun Devils in the first round. Portland State (picked to finish third in the Big Sky Conference) returns four starters from last year’s team. Eighth-year Portland State head coach Laura Schott played for current Sun Devil head coach Kevin Boyd at Cal.
SERIES NOTES
This will be the first meeting between ASU and Portland State.
FEAR THE FARQ
ASU’s most dangerous scoring threat since her freshman season in 2012, senior Cali Farquharson joined Sun Devil Hall of Famer Stacey Tullock as the only other Sun Devil to score double-digits in goals three straight seasons after recording scoring a single-season, career-high 14 last season (had 10 each of her first two seasons).
Last season Farquharson earned First-Team NSCAA All-Regional and First-Team All-Pac-12 recognition in addition to being named a Second-Team Scholar All-America by the NSCAA. She concluded her junior season as ASU’s leader in goals (14) and points (32) for the third consecutive season and finished tied for first in the Pac-12 in goals per game (0.67) and third in points per game (1.52).
A Valley native (Shadow Mountain HS/Phoenix, Ariz), Farquharson, who has a pair of career hat tricks to her credit, was named the Pac-12’s Offensive Player of the Week twice last season. Currently with 34 career goals, Farquharson is in third place on ASU’s all-time list. She needs three goals to tie Patrice Feulner (37/2000-03) for second place and 16 to tie all-time leader Stacey Tullock (50/1998-2001). Farquharson is also fourth on ASU’s all-time list in points (78). She needs two points to move into a tie for third place with Elizabeth Bogus (80/2002-05) on ASU’s all-time points list.
Farquharson, who owns the school record for most consecutive games scoring a goal (8 - last three games in 2012 and first five games of 2013), is also fourth on ASU’s all-time list in game-winning goals with 10.
BERRYHILL LEADS SUN DEVIL BACK LINE
A starter in 51 of 58 career contests, senior McKenzie Berryhill distinguished herself as one of the Pac-12’s top defenders in 2013 and followed that up with a 2014 campaign that saw her earn First-Team All-Pac-12 and First-Team NSCAA Pacific All-Regional honors. Berryhill’s experience was especially critical last season following the loss of two mainstays for the better part of the previous four years, Jasmine Roth and Kaitlyn Pavlovich. Berryhill played every minute of ASU’s 19 games in 2013 and started 17 of the 20 matches she played in last season (missed two games and did not start three others due to injury).
Berryhill played a big role last season in the Sun Devils’ final GAA of 1.05, which was the team’s lowest since 2007 (0.83).
BACK FOR MORE
Sophomore Aly Moon earned Pac-12 All-Freshman honors following a 2014 campaign in which she teamed with Cali Farquharson to give the Sun Devils two double-digit goal scorers – Farquharson (14) and Moon (10) – for only the second time in school history. Moon earned Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week honors the first weekend of the 2014 regular season following her outstanding debut weekend in ASU’s contests at the Outrigger Resort Shootout (Aug. 22 & 24 in Honolulu, Hawaii). Moon tied a single-game school record with three goals and was one point shy (7) of tying the single-game school record for scoring (currently held by junior Cali Farquharson, who had 8 points vs. USC in 2012) in ASU’s 5-2 win at Hawaii on Aug. 24. In addition, Moon also played a big role in ASU rallying from two goals down to tie Texas, 2-2 in the season opener (Aug. 22). Moon would set up the tying goal after she drew a penalty kick with 5:31 remaining in the game. In addition to being recognized by the Pac-12, Moon was also named to TopDrawerSoccer.com’s team of the week.
Moon, who led the team in assist last season (6), scored her fourth goal of in ASU’s contest at Illinois (Aug. 29). She added her fifth goal (rebounded Cali Farquharson’s shot which was knocked down by GK) in ASU’s 2-0 win vs. Oklahoma State (Sept. 7). She scored goals in each of ASU’s wins over New Mexico State (Sept. 12 and Nevada (Sept. 14) at the Cats Classic.
Moon missed ASU’s contest at CSUN (Sept. 19) for precautionary reasons. She returned to the starting lineup for ASU’s contest vs. top-ranked UCLA (Sept. 26) and added her third assist of the season. She helped the Sun Devils keep their nine-game unbeaten streak alive after scoring her eighth goal in the 87th minute of ASU’s 1-1 tie vs. Oregon (Oct. 5). She was the difference maker in ASU’s NCAA Tournament First Round win over NAU as she scored two goals in the first 5:04 of the game.
MORRIS PROVIDES SUN DEVILS WITH STEADY PRESENCE IN GOAL
One of the most important contributors in ASU’s success over the last three seasons is senior GK Chandler Morris. Since a quicker-than-anticipated ascension into the starter’s role in 2012, Morris has provided the Sun Devils with steady play and has come up big in some of ASU’s biggest games, most notably the Sun Devils’ 1-0 upset of then-No. 2 Stanford in 2013 which ended the Cardinal’s 73-game unbeaten streak at home and its 44-game conference streak. In 2014, Morris had a career-high 11 saves in ASU’s 1-1 tie vs. top-ranked UCLA. Morris recorded a shutout in ASU’s 0-0 tie vs. Washington State, giving her 17.0 shutouts for her career (currently has 19.0) and moving her into second place on ASU’s all-time list. Morris was named the Pac-12’s Goalkeeper of the Week on Oct. 20 after posting 10 saves (one short of tying her career high) in ASU’s 2-0 win at USC (Oct. 17). She earned the honor again following ASU’s 1-0 win over Arizona (Nov. 7). Morris’ 7.5 shutouts last season were the second-best, single-season total in school history.
TOSTI GIVES SUN DEVILS VALUABLE VERSATILITY
Prior to her Sun Devil career, junior Sara Tosti spent most of her career up top in the attacking position. That changed in 2012 when the coaching staff recognized Tosti’s skills would allow her to transition to the back line where she could be most effective given the team’s personnel at the time. She would go on to play all 21 games as a freshman, including starting assignments in 14 games.
In 2013 Tosti returned to her natural position up top and proved to be just as effective as she started all but one game. She had a remarkable stretch during the early portion of the Pac-12 season as her critical contributions helped pave the way for ASU’s first three conference wins. She assisted on Devin Marshall’s game-winning goal with 19 seconds left in ASU’s 1-0 win over USC (Sept. 29). One week later (Oct. 6) Tosti was named the Pac-12’s Offensive Player of the Week after she scored the only goal of the game in ASU’s 1-0 upset of (then) second-ranked Stanford. One week after that, Tosti was responsible for the game-winning goal in ASU’s 1-0 win at Oregon (Oct. 11).
Last season Tosti once again returned to the back line where her experience helped to make up for the combination of losing two regular starters from 2013 in addition to the team’s relative lack of experience in that part of the field. She has played in 21 games (18 starts) on the back line in 2014 (also saw occasional time up top). She was named to TopDrawerSoccer.com’s National Team of the Week following ASU’s wins over Oklahoma State (Sept. 5) and Texas A&M (Sept. 7).
NOTES
• ASU’s GAA of 1.05 last season was its lowest since 2007 (0.83) while its scoring average of 1.86 goals per game was its highest since 2003 (1.90).
• ASU’s nine-game unbeaten streak (7-0-2) last season was its longest such streak since 2000. The unbeaten streak included a 1-0 win over No. 6 Texas A&M (Sept. 7) and a 1-1 tie vs. top-ranked UCLA (Sept. 26). Prior to their tie with UCLA, the Sun Devils had won six straight games, which was their longest winning streak since 2002. ASU’s 8-1-3 record after 12 games tied its second-best record after 12 games in program history. Only the 2000 squad, which started the season 11-1, had a better record after 12 games.
• Junior forward Cali Farquharson (0.67) and freshman forward/midfielder Aly Moon (0.48) were the top combination in the Pac-12 in combined goals per game (1.15) in 2014. Both players tied the single-game school record for goals (3) – Moon at Hawaii (Aug. 24) and Farquharson vs. Nevada (Sept. 14 in Tucson), the second hat-trick of her career. Moon also had seven points in the game vs. Hawaii, coming one point short of tying Farqhuarson’s single-game school record of eight points set in 2012.
• Moon scored five goals in ASU’s first five games. The only Sun Devil freshman to have a better start to her career was Patrice Feulner, who scored seven goals her first five games and 10 in her first six games in 2000. Feulner had back-to-back hat tricks in the fifth and sixth games of her career (consecutive 7-0 home wins by ASU over Pittsburgh on Sept. 10 and vs. Eastern Michigan on Sept. 15).
• Madison Stark was the only Sun Devil to start every game in 2014. She also logged more minutes on the field than any other Sun Devil. She scored her first career goal in the 21st minute of ASU’s 1-0 win over Arizona on Nov. 7.
• After not scoring any goals the first two seasons of her Sun Devil career, Rachel Ometer scored three in 2014. The biggest of those goals helped ASU tie then-No. 6 Texas A&M at the half in the Sun Devils’ eventual 2-1 win upset of the Aggies.
• Mackenzie Semerad’s first goal as a Sun Devil was the game-winner in ASU’s 2-1 upset of then-No. 6 Texas A&M on Sept. 7, 2014.
• Junior Tommi Goodman has played in all 62 of ASU’s contests since 2012 with 52 starts to her credit.
• Going back to 2012, ASU has won 26 of the 29 contests in which it has scored first (26-1-2). ASU’s 2-1 loss at Washington on Oct. 10, 2014 ended a 24 game-unbeaten streak in games in which it had scored first (22-0-2). The other games ASU has not won in that stretch are a 1-1 tie at Oregon State (Oct. 19, 2012) and a 1-1 tie vs. top-ranked UCLA (Sept. 26, 2014).
• Thirteen different Sun Devils scored in 2014. Seven of those players scored multiple goals
• The Sun Devils scored their 27th goal of the season in the ninth game of the 2014 season. The significance? They surpassed their 2013 total of 26 goals (19 games).
SIX LOCAL PLAYERS HIGHLIGHT SUN DEVIL SOCCER’S 2015 SIGNING CLASS
Earlier this year, Arizona State University head women’s soccer coach Kevin Boyd announced that Sydney Day, Melinda Gutierrez, Kylie Miniefield, Adriana Orozco, Jaimie Salas, Kayla Satterfield, Natalie Stephens and Madison Wolf signed to study and play soccer at ASU.
Of the eight new players who will be joining the Sun Devils for the 2015 season, six – Gutierrez, Miniefield, Orozco, Salas, Stephens and Wolf – hail from the Valley of the Sun, something that Boyd said makes this class special.
“We think we put together a very good class once again,” Boyd said. “We’re thrilled that the majority of it is coming out of Arizona. We have wanted to get deeper into the state of Arizona and have our team better represent the state and this is a great step in that direction.”
SUN DEVIL SOCCER IN SPAIN
On May 9, 2015 the Sun Devil soccer team departed for a 10-day tour of Spain as part of an offseason international tour. The trip, which was privately funded, served as a one-of-a-kind experience in which the team learned about culture and international travel, had the chance to play soccer on an international level and provided all the players with a unique bonding opportunity.
“It was an incredible experience. We are incredibly lucky that we have some very supportive people around us,” said ASU head coach Kevin Boyd. “Through the generosity of the Sontag family we were able to do this. The trip was fully funded through private donations and also money raised by the team.“
The team started its tour in Barcelona and then and then moved up into the Basque country and into the San Sebastian and Bilbao area. The team played four games during its stay (vs. C.E. Europa, Athletic Bilbao, Real Sociedad and RCD Espanyol).
ACADEMIC SUCCESS
On the academic side, the Sun Devils have earned Pac-10/12 All-Academic notice 92 times in Boyd’s eight seasons, including 25 first-team members and 10 second-team members. In addition, soccer student-athletes have combined for 10 Academic All-America awards since 2007, most recently Cali Farquharson (NSCAA Second-Team Scholar All-America) in 2014 and former Sun Devils Jasmine Roth (second team) and Kaitlyn Pavlovich (third team) in 2013 Roth was also named the Pac-12’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year in 2013.