TEMPE – A new era for Sun Devil Athletics begins on Thursday when Sun Devil Soccer opens the 2024 campaign by hosting Northern Arizona at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium. The first official game for any ASU program as members of the Big 12 is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.
ASU is coming off a 10-7-4 season in 2023 that saw them advance to a second straight NCAA National Championship. The Sun Devils compiled a 6-1-3 record at home last season and they are unbeaten in their previous nine non-conference home games dating back to the 2021 season.
Enasia Colon returns in 2024 after leading the Sun Devil with nine goals and 22 points last season. ASU also brings back Keri Matthews after she tied for the team lead with six assists while placing second with 12 points and 30 shots. Pauline Nelles returns to her spot in goal after setting the program record with nine shutouts last season.
WATCH: ESPN+ will carry 11 Sun Devil home games and every Big 12 road game. ESPN+ is available via the ESPN App, ESPN.com or espnplus.com. Subscribers can watch it via most major mobile and connected TV platforms, including iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, Android devices, Roku, and Chromecast.
SERIES NOTES: ASU is 11-1 all-time against the Lumberjacks, including a 5-1 mark at home. The Sun Devils have won eight straight in the series, and they won the previous meeting with a score of 1-0 in Flagstaff on September 14, 2018.
ABOUT NAU: Northern Arizona went 11-6-3 overall and finished fourth in the Big Sky with a 4-3-1 mark in conference play. The Lumberjacks advanced to the championship game of the Big Sky Tournament. The 2024 team returns three players who started in that title game.
Avery Ott led all NAU returners with five points on two goals and one assist last season. Goalkeeper Trinity Corcoran returns, having posted a 0.80 GAA and .857 save percentage in 19 games played last season.
EXPERIENCED ROSTER: This 2024 Sun Devil squad returns 20 players from last year's tournament team. That group includes 16 players who appeared in the NCAA Tournament game at Santa Clara, along with nine regular starters, four of the top five point leaders, and the starting keeper.
The 29 players on the squad have played a combined total of 671 games and scored 159 points. The 21 returners accounted for 72 percent of the team's points and 80 percent of the minutes played.
HOME COOKING: ASU enters Thursday's opener unbeaten in 16 (11-0-5) straight non-conference games at home dating back to the 2019 season, including a 3-0 record in games played at Mountain America Stadium during the 2021 spring.
The Sun Devils have 12 home games on the schedule in 2024, the most since ASU played 15 during the 2000 season, the year the facility opened. ASU is 119-74-28 (.602) at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.
NATION EYES NELLES: Top Drawer Soccer ranked GK Pauline Nelles No. 21 in their Preseason Top 100 Players list. She was the highest ranked player from the Big 12 while also being named to the TDS Preseason Bext XI Second Team.
BIG 12 TRIO: Enasia Colon, Lucy Johnson, and Pauline Nelles were named to the 2024 Big 12 Preseason Soccer Team, making ASU one of five programs to have at least three selections.
Colon was one of the 10 juniors named to the team, while Nelles was one of two goalkeepers on the team.
MAKING PREDICTIONS: Heading into the program's first season as a member of the Big 12, Sun Devil Soccer was picked to finish fifth in the 2024 Big 12 Soccer Preseason Poll.
The Sun Devils received 157 points in the poll of the league's 16 head coaches. The ASU schedule has the Sun Devils facing just two of the four teams above them in the preseason poll, BYU (1st) and TCU (3rd).
COLON CLIMBS: Colon became the 26th player in program history to record 20 points in a season in 2023. She played in 20 games – all starts – and finished with 1,368 minutes while being named Second Team All-Pac-12.
Her 11 career goals are tied for 20th in team history, with five more moving her into a tie for 15th. Colon had three multi-goal games last season while adding three game-winners.
NELLES NOTES: Nelles begins 2024 sixth in program history with 19 wins and fifth with 12 shutouts. She enters the new season having played 2,610 consecutive minutes in goal for the Sun Devils.
Nelles holds four of the 25 longest shutout streaks in program history, including 336 minutes and 37 seconds over a four-game span last October.
LINEUP REGULAR: Lauren Kirberg returns to the ASU backline after leading all field players with 1,710 minutes played last season. She begins the season having played 32 consecutive games, including 22 straight starts. Kirberg played 70-plus minutes 19 times in 2023 and went the full 90 on nine occasions.
TRANSFERS: Grace Gillard transfers from Syracuse after starting all 36 Orange games and totaling 3,124 minutes over the past two seasons.
Maddie Shafer totaled 41 points in the past three seasons for Northern Arizona.
Cameron Valladares joins the Sun Devils after she scored four goals last season for Arizona.
LOOKING AHEAD: ASU returns to Sun Devil Soccer Stadium on Sunday when they host Wagner at 6 p.m. AZT.
ASU is coming off a 10-7-4 season in 2023 that saw them advance to a second straight NCAA National Championship. The Sun Devils compiled a 6-1-3 record at home last season and they are unbeaten in their previous nine non-conference home games dating back to the 2021 season.
Enasia Colon returns in 2024 after leading the Sun Devil with nine goals and 22 points last season. ASU also brings back Keri Matthews after she tied for the team lead with six assists while placing second with 12 points and 30 shots. Pauline Nelles returns to her spot in goal after setting the program record with nine shutouts last season.
WATCH: ESPN+ will carry 11 Sun Devil home games and every Big 12 road game. ESPN+ is available via the ESPN App, ESPN.com or espnplus.com. Subscribers can watch it via most major mobile and connected TV platforms, including iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, Android devices, Roku, and Chromecast.
SERIES NOTES: ASU is 11-1 all-time against the Lumberjacks, including a 5-1 mark at home. The Sun Devils have won eight straight in the series, and they won the previous meeting with a score of 1-0 in Flagstaff on September 14, 2018.
ABOUT NAU: Northern Arizona went 11-6-3 overall and finished fourth in the Big Sky with a 4-3-1 mark in conference play. The Lumberjacks advanced to the championship game of the Big Sky Tournament. The 2024 team returns three players who started in that title game.
Avery Ott led all NAU returners with five points on two goals and one assist last season. Goalkeeper Trinity Corcoran returns, having posted a 0.80 GAA and .857 save percentage in 19 games played last season.
EXPERIENCED ROSTER: This 2024 Sun Devil squad returns 20 players from last year's tournament team. That group includes 16 players who appeared in the NCAA Tournament game at Santa Clara, along with nine regular starters, four of the top five point leaders, and the starting keeper.
The 29 players on the squad have played a combined total of 671 games and scored 159 points. The 21 returners accounted for 72 percent of the team's points and 80 percent of the minutes played.
HOME COOKING: ASU enters Thursday's opener unbeaten in 16 (11-0-5) straight non-conference games at home dating back to the 2019 season, including a 3-0 record in games played at Mountain America Stadium during the 2021 spring.
The Sun Devils have 12 home games on the schedule in 2024, the most since ASU played 15 during the 2000 season, the year the facility opened. ASU is 119-74-28 (.602) at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.
NATION EYES NELLES: Top Drawer Soccer ranked GK Pauline Nelles No. 21 in their Preseason Top 100 Players list. She was the highest ranked player from the Big 12 while also being named to the TDS Preseason Bext XI Second Team.
BIG 12 TRIO: Enasia Colon, Lucy Johnson, and Pauline Nelles were named to the 2024 Big 12 Preseason Soccer Team, making ASU one of five programs to have at least three selections.
Colon was one of the 10 juniors named to the team, while Nelles was one of two goalkeepers on the team.
MAKING PREDICTIONS: Heading into the program's first season as a member of the Big 12, Sun Devil Soccer was picked to finish fifth in the 2024 Big 12 Soccer Preseason Poll.
The Sun Devils received 157 points in the poll of the league's 16 head coaches. The ASU schedule has the Sun Devils facing just two of the four teams above them in the preseason poll, BYU (1st) and TCU (3rd).
COLON CLIMBS: Colon became the 26th player in program history to record 20 points in a season in 2023. She played in 20 games – all starts – and finished with 1,368 minutes while being named Second Team All-Pac-12.
Her 11 career goals are tied for 20th in team history, with five more moving her into a tie for 15th. Colon had three multi-goal games last season while adding three game-winners.
NELLES NOTES: Nelles begins 2024 sixth in program history with 19 wins and fifth with 12 shutouts. She enters the new season having played 2,610 consecutive minutes in goal for the Sun Devils.
Nelles holds four of the 25 longest shutout streaks in program history, including 336 minutes and 37 seconds over a four-game span last October.
LINEUP REGULAR: Lauren Kirberg returns to the ASU backline after leading all field players with 1,710 minutes played last season. She begins the season having played 32 consecutive games, including 22 straight starts. Kirberg played 70-plus minutes 19 times in 2023 and went the full 90 on nine occasions.
TRANSFERS: Grace Gillard transfers from Syracuse after starting all 36 Orange games and totaling 3,124 minutes over the past two seasons.
Maddie Shafer totaled 41 points in the past three seasons for Northern Arizona.
Cameron Valladares joins the Sun Devils after she scored four goals last season for Arizona.
LOOKING AHEAD: ASU returns to Sun Devil Soccer Stadium on Sunday when they host Wagner at 6 p.m. AZT.