TEMPE, Ariz. -- Despite being delayed by weather for over an hour and a half, the Arizona State soccer team opened the 2018 season with a 3-1 win over the University of Montana at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium Thursday night.
The Sun Devils, who were originally scheduled to play Montana on Sunday in Hawaii, were forced to cancel their trip to the islands due to the impending arrival of Hurricane Lane, and instead host Montana in a home match.
"My thoughts and prayers are with the Hawaiians right now," head coach Graham Winkworth said. "We would have loved to have played two games this weekend, but it is just that, a game. As much as we would have loved to have gone there and enjoyed the sunshine, clearly it is not sunny over there right now. I just hope that everybody over there is safe, and that they can stay out of trouble weather wise. I wish them all of the best and I hope that we can make it over there in the near future."
The Sun Devils struck first, capitalizing on a Montana foul that led to freshman forward Cori Sullivan finding Nicole Douglas for the first ASU goal of the season, just 22 minutes into the match.
Montana wasted little time equalizing as senior forward Ellie Odison corralled a deflected ball of a defensive block in the 24th minute tying the game, 1-1.
Thunderstorms around Sun Devil Soccer Stadium continued, and forced the game to enter another delay.
Following the 40 minute weather delay, the Sun Devils got back to work on the offensive side of the pitch. In the 33rd minute, Douglas stole the ball from the Grizzlies goalkeeper in front of the net and finished at the far post to lift the Sun Devils to a 2-1 lead at halftime. With her goal in the final minutes of the first half, Douglas became the first ASU player to have a multi-goal match since October 21, 2017.
"It was good to start my first game and to score two goals was an amazing feeling," Douglas said of her performance. "To be on the pitch with my teammates, even though we have only been together a couple weeks, is amazing. All the team worked really hard throughout the whole game. We stuck to the game plan."
Both teams exchanged shots near the net throughout the second half. ASU senior goalkeeper Sydney Day finished with five saves in the season opener, which also stood as her first career start for the Sun Devils.
"I was really excited that I got the chance to start tonight," Day said. "I have worked so hard all three years I have been here and I finally got my start. I am really excited about it, and I am just really wanting to be stronger and work towards helping the team win."
"I am really happy for Sydney," Winkworth said of his senior keeper's performance. "She may be a senior, but that was her first appearance as a Sun Devil in a competitive game. She came in and pulled off some nice saves and got involved, I was really really happy for her."
The Sun Devils will be back in action next weekend hosting the Sun Devil Desert Classic. Action will get underway Friday with Arizona set to take on Southeast Missouri, followed by a 7 p.m. matchup featuring Arizona State and New Hampshire. The weekend home stand will conclude Sunday when UA takes on New Hampshire, followed by a match featuring ASU and SEMO at 1:30 p.m. PT. Fans can follow all of the action from the 2018 Sun Devil soccer season by following @SunDevilSoccer on Twitter.