TUCSON, Ariz. – Jazmarie Mader scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season and true freshman goalkeeper Emma Malsy made five saves to earn her first career shutout in the Arizona State women's soccer team's 3-0 win over NIU on Sunday during the final day of play at the Cats Classic hosted by the University of Arizona.
Aly Moon scored her first goal of the season for the Sun Devils (4-2-1), who collected 20 shots for the third consecutive game. Unlike the prior two games – the most recent a 2-1, double-overtime loss to San Francisco on Friday – in which they outshot the opposition a combined 40-8 but were outscored 5-2 in consecutive losses, the Sun Devils were able to make the most of their opportunities on Sunday and come away with a convincing win.
"I think we did a great job of bouncing back today," ASU head coach Kevin Boyd said. "Resilience is something we are talking about and I think the team found the focus that they wanted. They weren't happy with their focus on Friday night and they talked a lot about it and today did a great job of finding it."
The Sun Devils went after the Huskies (1-4-1) right from the start as they accumulated two corner kicks and one shot the first five minutes of the game. ASU's pressure would pay off in the eighth minute when it forced an NIU miscue that led to an own goal.
Thirteen minutes later the Sun Devils would strike for their second goal when Lucy Lara found Moon for a breakaway opportunity. Moon gathered in the pass, made her way toward goal and had her first offering deflected by NIU goalkeeper Amy Annala, who came charging in Moon's direction in an attempt to break up the opportunity. With the ball still free, Moon was able to sidestep Annala, who went to the ground to save the first shot, and calmly finished by poking the ball into the empty net to give ASU a 2-0 lead.
"I think it is really great for her," Boyd said of Moon's first goal of the season. "She is a player who absolutely expects to score in every game she plays. I think that is what drives her and who she is and that is the mark of a good forward. Great for her to get that goal."
Of equal importance to Boyd was that the Sun Devils were able to quickly score a second goal and put the Huskies on their heels.
"The great thing about today is we scored a goal and we did not have a relaxed feeling, but more of a focus on, 'Hey let's score a second one right now,'" Boyd said. "It's something that we talked about, 'stay on top of them after you get the first goal,' and that's part of this learning process. I think we did well with that today."
ASU's final goal of the day was set up by an outstanding individual effort by Mader, who took a pass inside the box with a defender trailing her, then made a quick move to free herself for a potentially unobstructed shot from 12 yards out. However before Mader could get a shot off, she was brought down by a Husky defender which resulted in the Sun Devils being awarded a penalty kick. Mader calmly drilled the ensuing kick into the net to make the final count 3-0.
"I'm happy because he had our third-straight 20-shot game and this time we scored three goals," Boyd said. "One was an own goal, one was a PK – and it was a legitimate one – and one we got clean, but we were all over them the whole time. It seemed it would be just a matter of time until we scored. I felt like that three games in a row and so it is nice that in the third one the ball started going in the net."
Malsy made four of her five saves in the second half to help the Devils earn their third shutout of the season. Boyd said he was especially pleased with two of the saves Malsy was able to come up with in the second half.
"I thought Emma came up big twice for us today," Boyd said. "One was a breakaway, when we were up 3-0. We vacated the center of the field for some reason and left their players wide open and one of them got away and Emma came up to stuff it which was huge. And then they had a set piece and their player hit a nice bent ball to the corner and Emma came across and caught it and made it look really easy which I love to see."
The Sun Devils return to action on Friday (4 p.m. PT) when they host Cal State Fullerton in their final non-conference contest of the season. Friday's game vs. CSUF can be seen live on Pac-12 Networks. Click here to order tickets or contact the Sun Devil ticket office at 480-965-5812.
Aly Moon scored her first goal of the season for the Sun Devils (4-2-1), who collected 20 shots for the third consecutive game. Unlike the prior two games – the most recent a 2-1, double-overtime loss to San Francisco on Friday – in which they outshot the opposition a combined 40-8 but were outscored 5-2 in consecutive losses, the Sun Devils were able to make the most of their opportunities on Sunday and come away with a convincing win.
"I think we did a great job of bouncing back today," ASU head coach Kevin Boyd said. "Resilience is something we are talking about and I think the team found the focus that they wanted. They weren't happy with their focus on Friday night and they talked a lot about it and today did a great job of finding it."
The Sun Devils went after the Huskies (1-4-1) right from the start as they accumulated two corner kicks and one shot the first five minutes of the game. ASU's pressure would pay off in the eighth minute when it forced an NIU miscue that led to an own goal.
Thirteen minutes later the Sun Devils would strike for their second goal when Lucy Lara found Moon for a breakaway opportunity. Moon gathered in the pass, made her way toward goal and had her first offering deflected by NIU goalkeeper Amy Annala, who came charging in Moon's direction in an attempt to break up the opportunity. With the ball still free, Moon was able to sidestep Annala, who went to the ground to save the first shot, and calmly finished by poking the ball into the empty net to give ASU a 2-0 lead.
"I think it is really great for her," Boyd said of Moon's first goal of the season. "She is a player who absolutely expects to score in every game she plays. I think that is what drives her and who she is and that is the mark of a good forward. Great for her to get that goal."
Of equal importance to Boyd was that the Sun Devils were able to quickly score a second goal and put the Huskies on their heels.
"The great thing about today is we scored a goal and we did not have a relaxed feeling, but more of a focus on, 'Hey let's score a second one right now,'" Boyd said. "It's something that we talked about, 'stay on top of them after you get the first goal,' and that's part of this learning process. I think we did well with that today."
ASU's final goal of the day was set up by an outstanding individual effort by Mader, who took a pass inside the box with a defender trailing her, then made a quick move to free herself for a potentially unobstructed shot from 12 yards out. However before Mader could get a shot off, she was brought down by a Husky defender which resulted in the Sun Devils being awarded a penalty kick. Mader calmly drilled the ensuing kick into the net to make the final count 3-0.
"I'm happy because he had our third-straight 20-shot game and this time we scored three goals," Boyd said. "One was an own goal, one was a PK – and it was a legitimate one – and one we got clean, but we were all over them the whole time. It seemed it would be just a matter of time until we scored. I felt like that three games in a row and so it is nice that in the third one the ball started going in the net."
Malsy made four of her five saves in the second half to help the Devils earn their third shutout of the season. Boyd said he was especially pleased with two of the saves Malsy was able to come up with in the second half.
"I thought Emma came up big twice for us today," Boyd said. "One was a breakaway, when we were up 3-0. We vacated the center of the field for some reason and left their players wide open and one of them got away and Emma came up to stuff it which was huge. And then they had a set piece and their player hit a nice bent ball to the corner and Emma came across and caught it and made it look really easy which I love to see."
The Sun Devils return to action on Friday (4 p.m. PT) when they host Cal State Fullerton in their final non-conference contest of the season. Friday's game vs. CSUF can be seen live on Pac-12 Networks. Click here to order tickets or contact the Sun Devil ticket office at 480-965-5812.