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Sun Devil Soccer Returns Home to Face Utah and Colorado

Sun Devil Soccer Returns Home to Face Utah and ColoradoSun Devil Soccer Returns Home to Face Utah and Colorado
Steve Rodriguez
UP NEXT
The Arizona State women's soccer team (5-3-1, 0-1 Pac-12) returns to Sun Devil Soccer Stadium this week to take on Pac-12 foes Utah (Thursday at 4:30 p.m. PT) and Colorado (Sunday at 3 p.m. PT). Coming off a 2-0 loss at No 11 UCLA, ASU will look to break into the win column in Pac-12 play. The Utes (6-2-1, 1-0/won at UW 1-0) and Buffaloes (7-3, 1-0/won at WSU 1-0) both won their Pac-12 openers.

PROMOTIONS
Thursday's game vs. Utah will be $3 Thursday. Tickets, hot dogs and beverages will be $3 each. The $3 tickets are available online only.
 
Sunday's game vs. Colorado will be Sunday Funday. All kids attending will have an opportunity to come on the field after the game and take a shot at scoring a goal.
 
COVERAGE
Both games can be seen live on Pac-12 Network. Daron Sutton/Tracey Bailey will call the action on Thursday and Matt McConnell/Danielle Slaton will have the call on Sunday. Fans can also follow on Twitter (@ASUSoccer) for in-game updates.
 
SERIES HISTORY
ASU leads the all-time series against Utah 5-4. Six of the nine meetings have been decided by 2-1 scores, including the last three meetings – ASU won in 2013 (2OT) and 2014 and Utah won last year's game in OT. Utah's win last season snapped ASU's three-game winning streak in the series. ASU been victorious in each of its four home meetings against Utah.

ASU is 5-1-1 in its all-time meetings against Colorado. Jessica Raybe scored a goal in the seventh minute and former Sun Devil McKenzie Berryhill scored in the 59th minute of ASU's 2-1 win over the Buffaloes last season. ASU won the first four meetings before a 2-2 draw in 2013 in Tempe snapped the winning streak. Colorado captured its only win in the series the following year in Boulder (2-0). 
 
LAST WEEK
• The Sun Devils lost their Pac-12 opener at No. 11 UCLA, 2-0. The Bruins dominated the action in the first half (9-0 advantage in shots and scored both of its goals in the first 8:05 of the game). ASU was the statistically superior team in the second half – 13-3 in shots and 7-3 in corners – but was not able to find the back of the net for the first time this season.
 
SUN DEVIL STORYLINES
• Jazmarie Mader has emerged as ASU's offensive star in 2016. The junior forward, who came into this season with four goals in 39 career games (15 starts), has already tallied a team-high six goals in nine games. Mader enters this weekend's action tied for second in the Pac-12 in goals (6) and tied for sixth in points (12). ASU's game vs. CSUF (Sept 16) snapped a six-game streak in which Mader scored a goal. She came within two games of tying former Sun Devil Cali Farquharson's school record of scoring a goal in eight straight games.
• ASU returns four full-time starters in 2016 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 48 of ASU's 49 games over the last three seasons (only game she missed was due to injury in 2015) while Moon (45 starts in 48 career games) is ASU's active career leader in goals (15) and points (42).
• Also returning for the Sun Devils are redshirt senior midfielder Lucy Lara (ASU's most experienced player in the midfield – 61 career games/40 starts – and active career leader in assists with 13) and senior defender Mckenzie Grossman (key contributor on ASU's back line, who has started 54 of 65 contests since 2013 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). She added another assist in ASU's win over NIU (Sept. 11) and she scored her second goal of the season in ASU's win over CSUF (Sept. 16). Grossman (held out for precautionary reasons) missed only the third game of her career in ASU's 2-0 loss at UCLA in its Pac-12 opener (Sept. 22). It snapped a streak of 48 straight games in which she played.
• Other returners adding to ASU's offensive firepower include junior forward Jessica Raybe, who finished second on the team in goals (5) and fourth on the team in points (10) in 2015, senior forward Larisa Staub and sophomore midfielder Adriana Orozco, who is currently second on the team with three goals.
• ASU has had eight different players score goals this season. In addition to Mader (6), also finding the back of the next this season have been Orozco (3), Lara (2), freshman forward Christina Edwards (1), junior midfielder Madison Kmetko (1), Moon (1) Raybe (1) and Staub (1).
• Redshirt freshman Kylie Miniefield, who missed all of 2015 due to a knee injury, has started all nine games for ASU at holding mid.
• Mader currently leads ASU in points (12/six goals) while Orozco is second with eight (three goals, two assists).
• 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 (one assist) have all already found their way into the scoring column. Kelsey has started all nine games at center back and Zerbel has played in every game and has started six contests at outside back. Malsy made her Sun Devil debut in the second half of ASU's contest vs. Denver (Sept. 4) and has started each of ASU's last four games. Malsy made her first career start vs. San Francisco (ASU lost 2-1 in 2OT/made five saves) and earned her first career shutout in ASU's 3-0 win over NIU (made five saves). She notched her second shutout in ASU's 2-0 win over CSUF (Sept. 16). 
• ASU 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.
• ASU entered fall camp with three players – redshirt junior Megan Delaney, sophomore Sydney Day and Malsy (redshirt junior Ashley March was sidelined due to injury) – vying to take the place of Morris, who was ASU's starter at goalkeeper the last four seasons. Delaney would go on to earn the spot and started each of the first five games. The 10 saves Delaney made in ASU's 1-1 tie at Boston College (Aug. 21) represent the second-highest, single-game total in the Pac-12 in 2016. Day played all of ASU's exhibition contest vs. Beijing Normal (Aug. 27) and Malsy started the second half of ASU's game vs. Denver (Sept. 4) and has started each of ASU's last four games.
• ASU's 2016 schedule includes 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
• Seven Sun Devils have started every game this season: Fr. D Devyn Kelsey, RS Sr. M Lucy Lara, Jr. F Jazmarie Mader, RS Fr. M Kylie Miniefield, Jr. F/M Aly Moon, Jr. defender Madison Stark and So. F Natalie Stephens.
• In its three losses this season ASU outshot the opposition a combined 53-26 and had a 21-11 advantage in corner kicks, but was outscored 7-2.
• ASU's earlier streak of scoring at least one goal in eight straight games was its longest in-season streak since it scored in each of its first 13 games in 2014. ASU's 2-0 loss at No. 11 UCLA (Sept. 22) represented the first time ASU did not score a goal this season.
• Going back to 2012, ASU has won 40 of the 47 contests in which it has scored first (40-4-3). 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), a 1-1 tie at Boston College (Aug. 21, 2016) and a 2-1 loss (2 OTs) vs. San Francisco (Sept. 9, 2016).
 
NEW ADDITIONS
In February Kevin Boyd ASU's signing class of Christina Edwards, Olivia Hernandez, Devyn Kelsey, Emma Malsy, and Hailey Zerbel.

"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/29 assists. In her first game as a Sun Devil, Edwards accounted for a goal (ASU's first of 2016) and an assist 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 nine contests at center back. 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. Hernandez recorded her first career assist at Boston University (Aug. 19), setting up fellow freshman Edwards. She added her second assist (set up Adriana Orozco's goal) in ASU's win over Loyola Chicago (Aug. 26) and is currently tied with Orozco, Natalie Stephens, Lucy Lara and Kylie Miniefield for the team lead in assists (2).

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. Malsy made her Sun Devil debut on Sept. 4 as she started the second half of ASU's contest vs. Denver. She has started each of ASU's last four games (earned first career shutout vs. NIU on Sept. 11 and added another vs. CSUF on Sept. 16).

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 nine contests at outside back and has recorded six starts thus far.

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 shutout as a Sun Devil in ASU's 4-0 win over Loyola Chicago (Aug. 26) and added another in ASU's 3-0 win over Columbia (Sept. 2).
 
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.