UP NEXT
The Arizona State women's soccer team (6-5-2, 1-3-1 Pac-12) begins a stretch in which it will play four of its last six games at home as ASU will take on No. 6 USC (10-3-0, 4-1-0 Pac-12) this Saturday at 6 p.m.
USC is the first of three current top 10 teams (according to Oct. 11 NSCAA Poll) ASU will host over the next three weeks as No. 10 Cal and No. 3 Stanford will also visit Tempe on Oct. 27 and 30, respectively. Of even greater importance is USC (7) and Stanford (1) are both ranked in the Top 10 of the most recent NCAA RPI (Oct. 11).
Saturday's game vs. USC will be ASU's annual Pink Game in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Next week ASU will play its final two regular season road games when it travels to the Pacific Northwest for the second time in three weeks for games at Oregon State (Oct. 20) and Oregon (Oct. 23).
COVERAGE
Saturday's game vs. USC 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.
LAST WEEK
• The Sun Devils split their two contests in Washington, defeating Washington 3-2 (2OTs) before dropping a double-overtime contest at Washington State, 2-1. Madison Kmetko's goal in the 105th minute of play gave the Sun Devils their first Pac-12 win in the come-from-behind victory over UW. Aly Moon (28'/2nd goal of 2016), Larisa Staub (87'/2nd) and Kmetko (105'/2nd) all scored for the Sun Devils, who were officially credited with five shots in the game. Moon scored the first goal of the game, but the Huskies would answer with the next two goals (40', 52') before Staub tied it. After not playing since a collision in the second half of ASU's Pac-12 opener at UCLA, Moon, ASU's active career leader in goals (16) and points (45), accounted for three points in scoring ASU's first goal and then assisting on Staub's game-tying goal.
• ASU was unable to complete the sweep on Sunday. The Sun Devils would get on the board first when Jazmarie Mader, who did not play in the UW game, scored her team-leading eighth goal of the season after she was awarded a penalty kick after being fouled in the box. The Cougars would knot the game at 1-1 in the 83rd minute and then won it with less than five minutes remaining in the second overtime. The Sun Devils were without Aly Moon on Sunday. Megan Delaney, who started at keeper for the first time since the fifth game of the season, had 12 saves which tied the second-highest, single-game total in the Pac-12 in 2016.
SERIES HISTORY
Although USC has won 13 of the 20 meetings (the two teams have never played to a tie), the Sun Devils have had the advantage of late having won five of the last eight, including a streak of three straight between 2012-2014. USC's 2-1 win last season in Los Angeles snapped the streak. ASU's 2-0 win at USC in 2014 was the Sun Devils' first win over USC in Los Angeles since 1997. Former Sun Devil Cali Farquharson scored both goals in the win. As a freshman in 2012, Farquharson tied the single-game school record for goals (3) and set the single-game school record for points (8) in ASU's 5-4, double-overtime win over USC. Former Sun Devil senior Tommi Goodman's first career goal was the game winner in the second overtime. ASU upset the seventh-ranked and defending national champion Trojans, 1-0, on October 19, 2008 in Tempe, Kevin Boyd's second season as ASU's head coach.
MADER LEADS SUN DEVIL ATTACK
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 eight goals in 2016 (12 games). Mader, who was held out of ASU's game at Washington (Oct. 6) as a precautionary measure, returned for ASU's game at Washington State and scored her eighth goal of the season against the Cougars. She enters Saturday's game tied for third in the Pac-12 in goals (8) and tied for sixth in points (16). 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.
IN CASE YOU ARE JUST JOINING US
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 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 in 52 (51 starts) of ASU's 52 games over the last three seasons (only game she missed was due to injury in 2015) while Moon (45 starts in 49 career games) is ASU's active career leader in goals (16) and points (45). Stark did not play in the second half of ASU's 1-0 loss vs. Colorado (Oct. 2) after she collided with fellow defender Mckenzie Grossman as the two went up to challenge a CU player for a ball in the air. Moon left the second half of ASU's game at UCLA (Sept. 22) after a collision with UCLA's goalkeeper. She did not play in ASU's 1-1 tie vs. Utah (Sept. 29) and its 1-0 loss to Colorado (Oct. 2). She returned for ASU's game at Washington (Oct. 6) and made an immediate impact as she scored ASU's first goal of the game and assisted on Larisa Staub's game-tying goal in the 87th minute. She would sit out ASU's ensuing 2-1 loss (2OT) at Washington State (Oct. 9).
Senior midfielder Lucy Lara is ASU's most experienced player in the midfield – 65 career games/44 starts – and active career leader in assists with 14. Lara scored a goal and assisted on another in ASU's 4-0 win over Loyola Chicago (Aug. 26). She also added assists in ASU's wins over NIU (Sept. 11) and at Washington (Oct. 6) and scored her second goal of the season in ASU's win over CSUF (Sept. 16).
ASU's most experienced defender (58 starts in 69 career contests), Grossman was named the team's Defensive MVP in 2015. She missed only the third game of her career (held out for precautionary reasons) in ASU's 2-0 loss at UCLA in the Sun Devils' Pac-12 opener (Sept. 22). It snapped a streak of 48 straight games in which she played. Grossman did not play in the second half of ASU's 1-0 loss vs. Colorado after the aforementioned collision with Stark. She returned to start ASU's next contest at Washington (Oct. 6) and played all 105 minutes.
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 (five career goals) and sophomore midfielder Adriana Orozco, who is currently second on the team with three goals.
DEVILS HAVE HAD SEVERAL CONTRIBUTORS ON OFFENSIVE END
ASU has had eight different players score goals this season. In addition to Mader (8), also finding the back of the net this season have been Orozco (3), Lara (2), junior midfielder Madison Kmetko (2), Moon (2), Staub (2), freshman forward Christina Edwards (1) and Raybe (1). Mader currently leads ASU in points (14/seven goals) while Orozco is second with eight (three goals, two assists).
WORKING LOTS OF OVERTIME
ASU has played five overtime games this year and in those five games the Sun Devils are 1-2-2. Three of those five OT contests have come in ASU's last four games – vs. Utah (T, 1-1/2OT), at Washington (W, 3-2/2OT), at Washington State (L, 1-2/2OT) – and all three have gone to double-overtime. ASU is 1-1-1 in those games.
NEW FACES PATROLLING THE NET
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 Chandler Morris, who was ASU's starter at goalkeeper the last four seasons and ended her career as the team's all-time leader in career shutouts.
A two-year starter at Texas A&M Corpus Christi before joining the Sun Devils last spring, Delaney would go on to earn the spot and started each of the first five games. Delaney proved to be more than up to the challenge as she combined for 15 saves in her first two games. 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). The 10 saves Delaney made in ASU's 1-1 tie at Boston College (Aug. 21) represent the third-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 went on to start each of ASU's next seven games. Malsy earned her first career shutout vs. NIU on Sept. 11 and added another vs. CSUF on (Sept. 16). Malsy has made five or more saves five times, including a season-high six in ASU's Pac-12 opener at UCLA (Sept. 22).
Delaney got the starting nod in ASU's most recent contest, a 2-1 setback at Washington State in 2OT. She made 12 saves against the Cougars, which tied the single-game high in the Pac-12 this season.
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.
NEW ADDITIONS
In February Kevin Boyd announced 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). She assisted on Jazmarie Mader's game-tying goal in the 81st minute of ASU's 1-1 tie vs. Utah (Sept. 29).
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 13 contests this season. She recorded her first career assist at Boston College (Aug. 21), setting up Jazmarie Mader's goal.
Named to the 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 Edwards, Kylie Miniefield, Moon, Orozco, and Natalie Stephens for third on 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 would go on to start ASU's next seven 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 13 contests at outside back and has recorded six starts thus far.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
• Four Sun Devils have started every game this season: Fr. D Devyn Kelsey, RS Sr. M Lucy Lara, RS Fr. M Kylie Miniefield, Jr. and So. F Natalie Stephens. Miniefield, who missed all of 2015 due to a knee injury, has started every game in the Sun Devil midfield this season. Grossman (12/12) and Mader (12/12) have both started every game they have played in. Other Sun Devils who have started at least half the games this season include Jr. D Madison Stark (13 games/12 starts), Jr. F Aly Moon (10/9), Jr. F Jessica Raybe (13/10) and junior defender Taylor Coon (11/7).
• Both of Jr. M Madison Kmetko's goals have come this season. She scored the game-winning goal in the 105th minute of ASU's 3-2 (2OT) 3-2 win at Washington (Oct. 6).
• In its first four losses of the season ASU outshot the opposition a combined 63-40 and had a 27-12 advantage in corner kicks, but was outscored 8-2 in the four games.
• 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 41 of the 49 contests in which it has scored first (41-4-3). 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) a 2-1 loss (2OT) vs. San Francisco (Sept. 9, 2016) and a 2-1 (2OT) loss at Washington State (Oct. 9).
• 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.
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.
The Arizona State women's soccer team (6-5-2, 1-3-1 Pac-12) begins a stretch in which it will play four of its last six games at home as ASU will take on No. 6 USC (10-3-0, 4-1-0 Pac-12) this Saturday at 6 p.m.
USC is the first of three current top 10 teams (according to Oct. 11 NSCAA Poll) ASU will host over the next three weeks as No. 10 Cal and No. 3 Stanford will also visit Tempe on Oct. 27 and 30, respectively. Of even greater importance is USC (7) and Stanford (1) are both ranked in the Top 10 of the most recent NCAA RPI (Oct. 11).
Saturday's game vs. USC will be ASU's annual Pink Game in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
Next week ASU will play its final two regular season road games when it travels to the Pacific Northwest for the second time in three weeks for games at Oregon State (Oct. 20) and Oregon (Oct. 23).
COVERAGE
Saturday's game vs. USC 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.
LAST WEEK
• The Sun Devils split their two contests in Washington, defeating Washington 3-2 (2OTs) before dropping a double-overtime contest at Washington State, 2-1. Madison Kmetko's goal in the 105th minute of play gave the Sun Devils their first Pac-12 win in the come-from-behind victory over UW. Aly Moon (28'/2nd goal of 2016), Larisa Staub (87'/2nd) and Kmetko (105'/2nd) all scored for the Sun Devils, who were officially credited with five shots in the game. Moon scored the first goal of the game, but the Huskies would answer with the next two goals (40', 52') before Staub tied it. After not playing since a collision in the second half of ASU's Pac-12 opener at UCLA, Moon, ASU's active career leader in goals (16) and points (45), accounted for three points in scoring ASU's first goal and then assisting on Staub's game-tying goal.
• ASU was unable to complete the sweep on Sunday. The Sun Devils would get on the board first when Jazmarie Mader, who did not play in the UW game, scored her team-leading eighth goal of the season after she was awarded a penalty kick after being fouled in the box. The Cougars would knot the game at 1-1 in the 83rd minute and then won it with less than five minutes remaining in the second overtime. The Sun Devils were without Aly Moon on Sunday. Megan Delaney, who started at keeper for the first time since the fifth game of the season, had 12 saves which tied the second-highest, single-game total in the Pac-12 in 2016.
SERIES HISTORY
Although USC has won 13 of the 20 meetings (the two teams have never played to a tie), the Sun Devils have had the advantage of late having won five of the last eight, including a streak of three straight between 2012-2014. USC's 2-1 win last season in Los Angeles snapped the streak. ASU's 2-0 win at USC in 2014 was the Sun Devils' first win over USC in Los Angeles since 1997. Former Sun Devil Cali Farquharson scored both goals in the win. As a freshman in 2012, Farquharson tied the single-game school record for goals (3) and set the single-game school record for points (8) in ASU's 5-4, double-overtime win over USC. Former Sun Devil senior Tommi Goodman's first career goal was the game winner in the second overtime. ASU upset the seventh-ranked and defending national champion Trojans, 1-0, on October 19, 2008 in Tempe, Kevin Boyd's second season as ASU's head coach.
MADER LEADS SUN DEVIL ATTACK
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 eight goals in 2016 (12 games). Mader, who was held out of ASU's game at Washington (Oct. 6) as a precautionary measure, returned for ASU's game at Washington State and scored her eighth goal of the season against the Cougars. She enters Saturday's game tied for third in the Pac-12 in goals (8) and tied for sixth in points (16). 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.
IN CASE YOU ARE JUST JOINING US
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 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 in 52 (51 starts) of ASU's 52 games over the last three seasons (only game she missed was due to injury in 2015) while Moon (45 starts in 49 career games) is ASU's active career leader in goals (16) and points (45). Stark did not play in the second half of ASU's 1-0 loss vs. Colorado (Oct. 2) after she collided with fellow defender Mckenzie Grossman as the two went up to challenge a CU player for a ball in the air. Moon left the second half of ASU's game at UCLA (Sept. 22) after a collision with UCLA's goalkeeper. She did not play in ASU's 1-1 tie vs. Utah (Sept. 29) and its 1-0 loss to Colorado (Oct. 2). She returned for ASU's game at Washington (Oct. 6) and made an immediate impact as she scored ASU's first goal of the game and assisted on Larisa Staub's game-tying goal in the 87th minute. She would sit out ASU's ensuing 2-1 loss (2OT) at Washington State (Oct. 9).
Senior midfielder Lucy Lara is ASU's most experienced player in the midfield – 65 career games/44 starts – and active career leader in assists with 14. Lara scored a goal and assisted on another in ASU's 4-0 win over Loyola Chicago (Aug. 26). She also added assists in ASU's wins over NIU (Sept. 11) and at Washington (Oct. 6) and scored her second goal of the season in ASU's win over CSUF (Sept. 16).
ASU's most experienced defender (58 starts in 69 career contests), Grossman was named the team's Defensive MVP in 2015. She missed only the third game of her career (held out for precautionary reasons) in ASU's 2-0 loss at UCLA in the Sun Devils' Pac-12 opener (Sept. 22). It snapped a streak of 48 straight games in which she played. Grossman did not play in the second half of ASU's 1-0 loss vs. Colorado after the aforementioned collision with Stark. She returned to start ASU's next contest at Washington (Oct. 6) and played all 105 minutes.
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 (five career goals) and sophomore midfielder Adriana Orozco, who is currently second on the team with three goals.
DEVILS HAVE HAD SEVERAL CONTRIBUTORS ON OFFENSIVE END
ASU has had eight different players score goals this season. In addition to Mader (8), also finding the back of the net this season have been Orozco (3), Lara (2), junior midfielder Madison Kmetko (2), Moon (2), Staub (2), freshman forward Christina Edwards (1) and Raybe (1). Mader currently leads ASU in points (14/seven goals) while Orozco is second with eight (three goals, two assists).
WORKING LOTS OF OVERTIME
ASU has played five overtime games this year and in those five games the Sun Devils are 1-2-2. Three of those five OT contests have come in ASU's last four games – vs. Utah (T, 1-1/2OT), at Washington (W, 3-2/2OT), at Washington State (L, 1-2/2OT) – and all three have gone to double-overtime. ASU is 1-1-1 in those games.
NEW FACES PATROLLING THE NET
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 Chandler Morris, who was ASU's starter at goalkeeper the last four seasons and ended her career as the team's all-time leader in career shutouts.
A two-year starter at Texas A&M Corpus Christi before joining the Sun Devils last spring, Delaney would go on to earn the spot and started each of the first five games. Delaney proved to be more than up to the challenge as she combined for 15 saves in her first two games. 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). The 10 saves Delaney made in ASU's 1-1 tie at Boston College (Aug. 21) represent the third-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 went on to start each of ASU's next seven games. Malsy earned her first career shutout vs. NIU on Sept. 11 and added another vs. CSUF on (Sept. 16). Malsy has made five or more saves five times, including a season-high six in ASU's Pac-12 opener at UCLA (Sept. 22).
Delaney got the starting nod in ASU's most recent contest, a 2-1 setback at Washington State in 2OT. She made 12 saves against the Cougars, which tied the single-game high in the Pac-12 this season.
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.
NEW ADDITIONS
In February Kevin Boyd announced 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). She assisted on Jazmarie Mader's game-tying goal in the 81st minute of ASU's 1-1 tie vs. Utah (Sept. 29).
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 13 contests this season. She recorded her first career assist at Boston College (Aug. 21), setting up Jazmarie Mader's goal.
Named to the 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 Edwards, Kylie Miniefield, Moon, Orozco, and Natalie Stephens for third on 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 would go on to start ASU's next seven 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 13 contests at outside back and has recorded six starts thus far.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
• Four Sun Devils have started every game this season: Fr. D Devyn Kelsey, RS Sr. M Lucy Lara, RS Fr. M Kylie Miniefield, Jr. and So. F Natalie Stephens. Miniefield, who missed all of 2015 due to a knee injury, has started every game in the Sun Devil midfield this season. Grossman (12/12) and Mader (12/12) have both started every game they have played in. Other Sun Devils who have started at least half the games this season include Jr. D Madison Stark (13 games/12 starts), Jr. F Aly Moon (10/9), Jr. F Jessica Raybe (13/10) and junior defender Taylor Coon (11/7).
• Both of Jr. M Madison Kmetko's goals have come this season. She scored the game-winning goal in the 105th minute of ASU's 3-2 (2OT) 3-2 win at Washington (Oct. 6).
• In its first four losses of the season ASU outshot the opposition a combined 63-40 and had a 27-12 advantage in corner kicks, but was outscored 8-2 in the four games.
• 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 41 of the 49 contests in which it has scored first (41-4-3). 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) a 2-1 loss (2OT) vs. San Francisco (Sept. 9, 2016) and a 2-1 (2OT) loss at Washington State (Oct. 9).
• 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.
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.