"Things have been good," second year head coach Graham Winkworth said of his team's progress through their second week of training. "We held an intra squad scrimmage last night and the intensity was phenomenal. It was an important match because players are playing and competing for places right now. I have been really pleased with the team's attitude and they have all been putting in a very high work rate."
The Sun Devils enter the weekend tilt fresh off an undefeated showing in last Sunday's exhibition doubleheader. ASU started the day with a dominant 3-1 win over New Mexico State, before fighting to a 1-1 draw against Denver in their evening match.
"Going into last weekend, all we had been able to work on was attacking," Winkworth said of Sunday's exhibition. "We only had about four days with the full team before we had to play two games. On top of that we split our team in half. I was really pleased that we were able to score four goals. There were some really good attacking moments in the game, but we have now started working on the defensive side of the ball and hope to see some improvements there this weekend."
Through the two games, ASU outscored their opposition 4-2 and held a 26-21 advantage in shots. On the defensive end, freshman keeper Amanda Green anchored the Sun Devils in a game one win over the Aggies, while senior Sydney Day posted five saves in ASU's draw with the Tigers. On the score sheet, four different Sun Devils netted goals, including Natalie Stephens, Naomi Aguilar, Casey Martinez and Hikaru Minami.
For Martinez, last Sunday's game marked her first appearance back on a soccer pitch in over a year. The senior missed all of the 2017 season, her final season at Duke due to an injury, but her competitive nature has caught the attention of her head coach in just a short amount of time.All 4 goals from this past weekend! ???? #ForksUp pic.twitter.com/OVJOm46SoH
— Sun Devil Soccer (@SunDevilSoccer) August 15, 2018
"She is really competitive," Winkworth said of the senior forward. "There have been lots of players who have been showing me flashes of why they are ASU soccer players, but what we have been looking for is consistency. I would say, of the new players, she has been one who has shown a high level of consistency so far. I wouldn't want to player her at tiddlywinks or chess. She is ultra competitive in everything she does. That's the kind of mentality I want our players to bring to every training session."
This weekend, ASU will turn their focus to visiting FUSC, a game made possible by the Pac-12's Global Initiative, established in 2011. The FUSC is China's nationally authorized organization for university sports and operates under the Ministry of Education. Since 2011, the Pac-12 and FUSC have worked together to put on exhibition soccer and basketball games, coaching clinics and educational symposiums on collegiate sports.
"This is a great opportunity for us," Winkworth said of Saturday's match. "We didn't play a game our opening weekend due to a cancelation and we have mixed the squads up a lot. I am not saying that Saturday's team will be the one who plays next week in Hawaii, but we may be able to start getting a little closer to that point. This is another opportunity for players to play together. Our team has gelled brilliantly off the field, but this is just another chance for us to gel on the field as well."
Following Saturday's exhibition match, the Sun Devils will hit the road to start the 2018 regular season in Hawaii. ASU's first official game will be on Aug. 24 against the Rainbow Wahine in a 10 p.m. PT match. Following the Friday night tilt, ASU will take on Montana in a neutral site contest. The Sun Devils' first home match will take place on Friday Aug. 31 at 7 p.m. against New Hampshire. Fans can follow all of the action from the 2018 Sun Devil soccer season by following @SunDevilSoccer on Twitter.