Sun Devil Soccer Hosts Sun Devil Desert Classic This Weekend

UP NEXT
The Sun Devil soccer team (2-0-1) hosts the annual Sun Devil Desert Classic this weekend. ASU will play Columbia (1-1) at 4:30 p.m. on Friday and then Denver (1-3) at 7 p.m. on Sunday. Arizona will also be in town as it will take on Denver on Friday night at 7 p.m. and Columbia at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

The Sun Devils enter this week's action as one of three unbeaten teams in the Pac-12.

COVERAGE
Both of ASU's games can be seen via live stream at http://pac-12.com/live/arizona-state-university. Also, follow on Twitter (@ASUSoccer) for live, in-game updates.

PROMOTIONS
As a part of Sunday Funday, all kids eighth grade and under will receive discounted admission at the gate in addition to having the opportunity to take a shot on goal following the game. Sunday will also be Alumni Day. Former Sun Devil players in attendance will be introduced at halftime and will sign autographs with the team after the game.

IN THE RANKINGS
In the most recent NSCAA poll, the Sun Devils were receiving votes and currently sit three spots away from cracking the Top 25. ASU was also ranked fourth in the NSCAA Pacific Region rankings. 

LAST WEEK
• The Sun Devils improved to 2-0-1 on the season after defeating Loyola Chicago 4-0. ASU scored two goals in the first half and two in the second half. Lucy Lara started off the scoring after her free kick tucked under the crossbar in the eighth minute. Adriana Orozco followed by scoring her second goal of the season (30th minute) after receiving a cross from Olivia Hernandez in front of the Loyola Chicago goal. In the second half Jessica Raybe scored her first goal of the year after she was able to head in a ball off a pass from Kylie Miniefield (Lara was also credited with an assist on the goal giving her three points in the game: one goal, one assist). Jazmarie Mader scored her second goal of the year after her shot deflected off a Loyola University defender and into the back of the net.
• Megan Delaney made one save to pick up her first career shutout as a Sun Devil.
• ASU was edged by Beijing Normal University, 1-0, in an exhibition contest that was played 14 hours after the conclusion of ASU's game vs. Loyola Chicago. Saturday's contest against Beijing Normal concluded an arduous stretch for the Sun Devils in which they played four games in nine days, traveled across the country to Boston to open their season and started fall semester classes.

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 42 of ASU's 43 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 – 55 career games/34 starts – and active career leader in assists with) and senior defender Mckenzie Grossman (key contributor on ASU's back line, who has started 49 of 60 contests over the last three seasons and was named the team's Defensive MVP in 2015). Lara scored a goal and assisted on another in ASU's 4-0 win over Loyola Chicago (Aug. 26).
• 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). Mader is currently tied with sophomore midfielder Adriana Orozco for the team lead in goals (2) and points (4) while Raybe scored her first goal of the season in ASU's win over Loyola Chicago.
• ASU's five-member freshman class – Christina Edwards, Olivia Hernandez, Devyn Kelsey, Emma Malsy, and Hailey Zerbel – has already had an immediate impact. Edwards (one goal, one assist), Hernandez (two assists) and Kelsey have all already found their way into the scoring column. Kelsey has started all three games at center back and Kelsey has started one game at outside back.
• 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 37 of the 43 contests in which it has scored first (37-3-3). 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. Kelsey has started all three contests at centerback. 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. She currently leads the team with two assists after adding her second (set up Adriana Orozco's goal) in ASU's win over Loyola Chicago (Aug. 26)

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 has played in all three contests and started the season opener at Boston College at outside back.

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. She collected her first career shutout in ASU's 4-0 win over Loyola Chicago (Aug. 26).

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.