UP NEXT
The Sun Devil soccer team (1-0-1) hosts Loyola University Chicago (0-1-1) on Friday at 7 p.m. PT in its 2016 home opener. The following day (Saturday at 11 a.m. PT), the Sun Devils will host Beijing Normal University in an exhibition game that will be televised live by Pac-12 Arizona. Saturday's game will be free for fans to attend.
PROMOTION
ASU's season opener will be USA Soccer Night. Fans are encouraged to show their support for the USA by wearing red, white, and blue. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a special 4" x 6" USA Flag.
COVERAGE
Friday's game vs. Loyola University Chicago can seen via live stream at http://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university. Saturday's game vs. Beijing Normal University can be seen on Pac-12 Arizona.
IN THE RANKINGS
In the most recent NSCAA poll, the Sun Devils were receiving votes and currently sit six spots away from cracking the Top 25. ASU was also ranked fourth in the NSCAA Pacific Region rankings.
SUN DEVIL SOCCER SEASON AND SINGLE-GAME TICKETS NOW ON SALE
Season and single-game tickets to the Arizona State women's soccer team's 2016 home games are now on sale.
The Sun Devils will kick off their home slate on Fri., Aug. 26 at 7 p.m. when they take on Loyola University Chicago on USA Soccer Night. Fans are encouraged to show their support for the USA by wearing red, white, and blue. The first 500 fans in attendance will receive a special 4" x 6" USA Flag.
The Sun Devils will host a total of 11 games at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium during the 2016 season with 10 regular season games and a FREE exhibition match vs. Beijing Normal University.
Click here for more information on season tickets and click here for more information on single-game tickets.
LAST WEEK
• The Sun Devils went 1-0-1 on their season opening trip to Boston where it faced 2015 NCAA Tournament participants Boston University and Boston College. The Sun Devils defeated Boston University 2-1 on Friday and tied No. 25 Boston College 1-1 on Sunday.
• ASU scored two goals in the first half at Boston and then staved off a rally by the Terriers in the second half to come away with a 2-1 win. Freshman Christina Edwards scored ASU's first goal of the season in the 40th minute (assisted by fellow freshman Olivia Hernandez) and then would assist on sophomore Adriana Orozco's goal in the 43rd minute. Redshirt junior Megan Delaney made all five of her saves in the second half to help ASU capture the win.
• Junior Jazmarie Mader scored her fifth career goal to give ASU the lead in the 37th minute of its game at Boston College on Sunday. After tying the game in the 61st minute, the Eagles would continue to put pressure on ASU's goal. ASU's defense would respond by keeping BC scoreless for the remainder of the game. Delaney would play a big role in that with by grabbing 10 saves.
• Five Sun Devils made their first career start last week: junior D Taylor Coon, redshirt junior GK Megan Delaney, freshman D Devyn Kelsey, redshirt freshman M Kylie Miniefield and freshman D Hailey Zerbel. Delaney, Kelsey, Miniefield and Zerbel were all playing (and starting) in their first career game in the season opener. The last time the Sun Devils had four new players in the starting lineup for a season opener was in 2012.
SCOUTING LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO
Loyola Chicago (0-1-1) opened its 2016 campaign with a 0-0 draw at Green Bay and a 1-0 loss at Fordham. The Ramblers are coming off their fifth winning-season in program history. In the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll they were picked to finish second as defending league champs, Drake had just five more points in the preseason poll. Three Ramblers were selected to the All-Conference Team, Shelby Koch, Taylor Lambouris and Jenna Szczesny. Szczesny was named the MVC's Freshman of the Year last year and was named second team All-MVC after leading the team in goals (5) and assists (5).
Arizona State won the only previous meeting, a 3-1 decision in Chicago in 2014. Current Sun Devils Jazmarie Mader – first career goal – and Lucy Lara – one assist – helped contribute on the offensive end.
SUN DEVIL STORYLINES
• ASU returns four full-time starters who have all been impact players over the course of their respective careers. Leading the way are junior defender Madison Stark (2015 All-Pac-12 Honorable Mention and NSCAA Third-Team All-Region) and junior forward Aly Moon (2015 Pac-12 Honorable Mention). Stark has played and started in 41 of ASU's 42 games over the last two-plus seasons while Moon returns as ASU's active career leader in goals (14), points (39) and game-winning goals (3).
• Also returning for the Sun Devils are redshirt senior midfielder Lucy Lara (ASU's most experienced player in the midfield – 54 career games/33 starts – and active career leader in assists) and senior defender Mckenzie Grossman (key contributor on ASU's back line, who has started 48 of 59 contests over the last three seasons and was named the team's Defensive MVP in 2015).
• Other returners adding to ASU's offensive firepower include junior forward Jessica Raybe – finished second on the team in goals (5) and fourth on the team in points (10) in 2015 – and senior forward Larisa Staub and junior forward Jazmarie Mader, who both found the back of the net multiple times last season. Mader scored ASU's only goal, the fifth of her career – in ASU's 1-1 tie vs. Boston College (Aug. 21).
• ASU's five-member freshman class – Christina Edwards, Olivia Hernandez, Devyn Kelsey, Emma Malsy, and Hailey Zerbel – is expected to have an immediate impact.
• The Sun Devils entered the 2016 season looking to replace eight key contributors from last year's squad. Among the players lost to graduation were the program's No. 2 all-time leader in goals and points (Cali Farquharson), the program's all-time leader in career shutouts (Chandler Morris), three of the team's mainstays in the midfield (Tommi Goodman, Whitney Kanavel and Mackenzie Semerad) and three starting defenders (McKenzie Berryhill, Alyssa Martinez and Sara Tosti). Farquharson, Berryhill, Goodman, Semerad and Tosti all went on to play professionally.
• This season ASU will face nine teams that made it to the NCAA Tournament last year: Arizona (third round), Boston University (second round), Boston College (first round), California (first round), Cal State Fullerton (first round), Stanford (fourth round), USC (third round), Washington (first round) and Washington State (first round). Of ASU's 19 regular season opponents, 11 had winning records last season.
• After finishing tied for sixth last season, the Sun Devils were picked to finish eighth in the Pac-12 by the league's coaches.
MISC NOTES
• Going back to 2012, ASU has won 36 of the 42 contests in which it has scored first (36-3-3). ASU's 2-1 loss at Washington on Oct. 10, 2014 ended a 24 game-unbeaten streak for ASU in games in which it had scored first (22-0-2). The other games ASU has not won in the aforementioned stretch are a 1-1 tie at Oregon State (Oct. 19, 2012), a 1-1 tie vs. top-ranked UCLA (Sept. 26, 2014), a 2-1 loss at USC (Oct. 9, 2015), a 2-1 overtime loss at Utah (Oct. 30, 2015) and a 1-1 tie at Boston College (Aug. 21, 2016).
• ASU head coach Kevin Boyd improved to 8-1-1 in season openers following ASU's 2-1 win at Boston on Aug. 19, 2016.
• In its nine wins in 2015, ASU outscored the opposition 28-3.
NEW ADDITIONS
Last February Kevin Boyd announced that Christina Edwards, Olivia Hernandez, Devyn Kelsey, Emma Malsy, and Hailey Zerbel signed letters of intent to join the Sun Devil soccer program.
"Once again we think we have put together a very good class, not only in the talent that they bring, but the character that they bring," said Boyd, when the class was signed. "We are losing 10 players to graduation, five of which are going on to professional careers so there is a lot of great talent that we have to replace. We feel like the players that make up this class have the potential to not just simply step in and fill a void, but to come in and have an immediate impact in our program."
A two-time 5A Girls State Player of the Year (2014, 2015) for Summit High School (Bend, Oregon), Edwards' career statistics with Summit included 70 goals and 29 assists. In her first game as a Sun Devil, Edwards accounted for a goal (ASU's first of 2016) and assisted on another in the span of less than three minutes in ASU's 2-1, season-opening win at Boston University (Aug. 19).
Kelsey, out of Los Osos High School (Rancho Cucamonga, California), was selected for the U18 U.S. and U19 U.S. National Team Camps. She was a team captain in 2015-2016 and was a three-time team MVP. Last weekend Kelsey started each of ASU's games (at Boston University and at Boston College) to open the 2016 regular season. She recorded her first career assist at Boston College (Aug. 21), setting up Jazmarie Mader's goal.
Named to Arizona Republic's 2016 All-State (Division II) First Team, Hernandez scored 141 goals for Westview High School (Avondale, Arizona). She spent four years with the ODP state team (2012-15), where she was a part of the 2015 Region IV Team and Interregional Tournament All-Star Team. Last weekend Hernandez played in each of ASU's games (at Boston University and at Boston College) to open the 2016 regular season. She recorded her first career assist at Boston University (Aug. 19), setting up fellow freshman Edwards..
Malsy was a four-year starting varsity goalkeeper and team captain for Ocean View High School (Huntington Beach, California), who earned All-CIF Southern Section Division 5 distinction in 2016. She lead her team to CIF appearances all four years, including a berth in the quarterfinals in 2014.
Zerbel was named 2016 Palomares League and CIF-SS Division 3 MVP following a season in which she helped lead her South Hills High School (West Covina, California) team to the CIF-Southern Section Division 3 championship, and CIF-State Southern California Region Division III title for the first time in school history. Zerbel started the season opener at Boston University (Aug. 19) and played 69 minutes at Boston College (Aug. 21).
Also joining the Sun Devils in the offseason was goalkeeper Megan Delaney, who was a two-year starter for Texas A&M Corpus Christi. Emerging as the starter out of fall camp, Delaney proved to be more than up to the challenge as she combined for 15 saves in her first two games as a Sun Devil.
COLLEEN BOYD JOINS SUN DEVIL SOCCER COACHING STAFF
Colleen Boyd joined the Sun Devil soccer coaching staff in March after serving as an assistant coach for two seasons at CSUN. Boyd's primary responsibility was working with the goalkeepers. Under her tutelage, Matador goalkeepers went from posting two shutouts in 2013 (the season before her arrival) to a combined 15 over the next two seasons. Boyd's instruction also played a major role in the marked improvement CSUN had in goals-against average going from 1.64 in 2013 to a combined 1.12 in 2014 and 2015. Most importantly, CSUN's 11 wins in 2015 tied the second-highest win total in program history. In July, Boyd was selected for the National Soccer Coaches Association of America's 30 Under 30 Program. Boyd was chosen for the program from a pool of 350 applicants. This year's group of coaches (comprised of 15 men and 15 women) comes from the youth game through the college ranks. The NSCAA 30 Under 30 program is designed to give participants exposure to the Association's membership, and the opportunity to take advantage of educational offerings, such as diplomas and the NSCAA Convention.
ACADEMIC SUCCESS
Since 2007 (Kevin Boyd's first season at ASU) the Sun Devil soccer program leads the Pac-12 in the number of All-Academic first-team awards (25) and the number of first- and second-team awards (39). ASU has had 10 or more players named to the league's All-Academic teams in all nine of Boyd's seasons as head coach. A program record 15 student-athletes earned Pac-12 All-Academic recognition in 2015. It broke the previous program record of 14 set by the 2011 squad. ASU's five combined first- (2) and second-team (3) awards were the most of any school in the conference in 2015.