Sun Devil Soccer Travels to Tucson to Face USF and NIU in Arizona Cats Classic

UP NEXT
The Sun Devil soccer team (3-1-1) will remain in the state of Arizona this week when it travels to Tucson to compete in the Arizona Cats Classic. First up will be San Francisco on Friday at 4:30 p.m. ASU will then close out the tournament on Sunday when it faces NIU at 11 a.m.
 
COVERAGE
Both of ASU's contests at the Arizona Cats Classic can be seen via live stream by clicking on this link: http://pac-12.com/live/university-arizona-2. Fans can also follow on the team's Twitter page (@asusoccer) for live in-game updates. 

SERIES HISTORY
ASU has split its two previous meetings with San Francisco. USF took the first meeting 1-0 in 1996, ASU's inaugural season, and ASU won the second 3-0 in 2003 (both contests were played in Tempe).

This weekend's game will be ASU's first meeting against NIU.

LAST WEEK
• The Sun Devils moved to 3-1-1 on the season after splitting the two contests in their annual home tournament, the Sun Devil Desert Classic. ASU started with a 3-0 win over Columbia on Friday before falling to Denver 3-1 on Sunday, ASU's first setback of the season.
• Larisa Staub, Madison Kmetko and Jazmarie Mader all found the back of the in the win over Columia. Megan Delaney made two saves to earn her second straight shutout. ASU outshot Columbia 20-5, including an 8-2 advantage in shots on goal. After gaining the advantage in the first half, the Sun Devils were even more dominant in the second half as they did not allow a single shot in the last 45 minutes.
• In Sunday's loss to Denver, the Sun Devils never led after Denver scored in the fourth minute and again in the 45th minute.
• Jazmarie Mader's fourth goal of the season in the 54th minute helped ASU cut Denver's lead to a goal, but the Pioneers would score again in the 73rd minute to once again take a two goal lead.
• The Sun Devils dropped the game despite a 20-6 advantage in shots. Equally frustrating for ASU in the loss was Denver's ability to convert half of its six shot attempts into goals. And as if the statistical anomalies that went against them were not enough, the Sun Devils also had two goals nullified by offsides infractions.
 
SUN DEVIL STORYLINES
• ASU returned 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 44 of ASU's 45 games over the last two-plus seasons while Moon returns as ASU's active career leader in goals (14), points (40) 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 – 57 career games/36 starts – and active career leader in assists with) and senior defender Mckenzie Grossman (key contributor on ASU's back line, who has started 51 of 62 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 currently leads ASU in goals (4) after scoring one in each of ASU's last four games. 
• ASU has had seven different players score goals this season. In addition to Mader, also finding the back of the next this season have been sophomore midfielder Adriana Orozco (2), freshman forward Christina Edwards (1), junior midfielder Madison Kmetko (1), Lara (1), Raybe (1) and Staub (1).
• Mader currently leads ASU in points (8/four goals) while Orozco is second with six (two 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 five games at center back and Zerbel has started three games at outside back. Malsy made her Sun Devil debut in the second half of ASU's contest vs. Denver (Sept. 4).
• 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.
• The Sun Devils entered fall camp with three players – redshirt junior Megan Delaney, sophomore Sydney Day and freshman Emma Malsy (redshirt junior Ashley March was sideline 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 ASU's first five games. 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).
• 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 38 of the 44 contests in which it has scored first (38-3-3). 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 five 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 played in each of ASU's opening weekend 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 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 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. She lead her team to CIF appearances all four years, including a berth in the quarterfinals in 2014. Malsy made her Sun Devil debut on Sept. 4 as she started the second half of ASU's contest vs. Denver.

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 five contests at outside back and has recorded three 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.