Soccer prepares for Pepperdine and Denver beginning Thursday

TEMPE  – Continuing the seven-game home stand, Sun Devil Soccer faces Pepperdine on Thursday at 7 p.m. and hosts Denver on Sunday at 10 a.m. Both matches can be seen on ESPN+ with live stats being available on StatBroadcast.

With a purchase of adult tickets, tickets for kids in the sixth grade or younger are complimentary for all home matches this 2025 season.

The Sun Devils finished August with an unbeaten record, going 4-0-1 with a 3-0 victory against UNLV, led by goals by Tatum Thomason, Izzy Monck and Adrielle Mibe. Pauline Nelles recorded her 20th career shutout which ended a three-game road trip.

On Sunday, UCLA transfer Peyton Marcisz scored the game-winning goal in the 1-0 clean sheet over New Mexico State. Nelles recorded back-to-back shutouts for the eighth time in her career and notched her 31st career win, being one of three Sun Devil goalies with 30+ wins.

About Pepperdine:
The Waves are coming off a successful 2024 campaign where they won the West Coast Conference (WCC), going 12-4-5 and an NCAA Tournament birth. In their first five matches, they have faced two top-10 teams, falling to No. 9 TCU, 6-1, in the season opener and No. 5 USC, 3-2 on August 21. 

The Waves defeated California 1-0 last Thursday in Berkeley, avenging their NCAA First Round loss in 2024 and beat Columbia, 3-0 last Sunday. Pepperdine has had a wide range of goal scorers with eight different players finding the back of the net. Both teams meet for the first time since 2015 with the series tied 3-3-3.

About Denver:
The Pioneers went 11-6-2 last season and are unbeaten this season with a 2-0-3 record, including a scoreless draw against Big 12 foe Baylor on August 21. Denver was beating Texas A&M, 1-0, in the 68th minute before the match was declared a no-contest due to lightning and rain.

Denver is coming off a 4-1 win against Southern Utah last weekend. The Pioneers will face Arizona on Thursday before facing the Sun Devils this Sunday. ASU will meet Denver for the first time since August 2022 with the series tied 1-1-2.

All eyes on Cam:
The senior has netted at least a point in all five matches for the Sun Devils this season and has a team-best seven points this season. She is currently tied for the Big 12 lead for most assists this season with five and one of two players in the conference with an assist in every game. 

In the win against Texas State, she tied a career-best with two assists and scored the lone goal against Texas in the 1-1 draw last Thursday. Valladares is currently on a career-best point streak, compiling one goal and five assists through five games.

Nelles in Net:
Pauline Nelles, the senior goalkeeper out of Bonn, Germany, has made 61 consecutive starts in goal for the Sun Devils, and notched her 20th and 21st career clean sheet in wins over UNLV and New Mexico State on August 28th and 31st, respectively. Nelles will enter her next match with 244 career saves, which currently ranks her fourth in the program's history. She is one of five Sun Devils to have recorded 200-or-more saves throughout their career. Her 31 career wins are the third most in program history.

Nelles recorded back-to-back clean sheets for the eighth time in her ASU career en route to helping her team stay unbeaten throughout the month of August. The veteran hasn't allowed a goal since the 7:45 mark of the first half against Texas State on Aug. 24, 2025, a span of 247 minutes and 14 seconds of match time. 

Spreading the Wealth:
Through five matches the Sun Devils have had nine different goal scorers contributing to the squad outscoring opponents 12-2. Peyton Marcisz, Sierra Bergen and Tatum Thomason have two goals apiece this season and each have an assist. 

Brace for Bergen!
In her second game as a Sun Devil she scored her first two collegiate goals in the victory against Texas State, setting a career-high with four points. She had a game-high six shot attempts with three coming on goal against the Bobcats. On August 21 against Texas the Mississippi State transfer recorded her first assist of the season and played 85 minutes in her first appearance as a Sun Devil.

Milestone watch:
-Nelles is 21 saves away from surpassing Kim Bingham for third in program history.
-Forward Cameron Valladares is seven points away from 40 career points
-Washington transfer Tatum Thomason reached 50 career starts.
-Thomason is one point away from 25 career points.

ASU's RECORD WHEN:

3-0-1	When ASU scores first
1-0	When the Opponent Scores First
4-0-1	When ASU is ahead after the first half
4-0-1	When Cameron Valladares scores one point
2-0-0	When Peyton Marcisz Scores a goal
3-0-1	When playing on Thursday
2-0-0	When playing on Sunday

Cutting Corners:
The Sun Devils are best in the Big 12 with 43 corner kicks to begin the season, which ranks seventh in the nation, averaging 7.6 corner kicks per match. In the 1-0 win against New Mexico State, ASU matched their season-high with 12 corner kicks. In the season opener, Miki Hayashi scored the first goal of the year off a corner kick. The Maroon and Gold have only conceded 10 corner kicks this year.

Early Season Success:
Since 2018 the Sun Devils have had a run of success in the opening month of play, compiling a 18-0-7 record in the month of August. ASU has outscored teams 72-15 in those games.

Preseason Recognition:
Reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Year Kierra Blundell was named to the 2025 Big 12 Preseason Team and the only sophomore forward to make the list. She earned spots on the Big 12 Second Team All-Conference honors and on the Big 12 All-Freshman list.

Welcome to Tempe:
The Sun Devils have welcomed 14 new players to the roster and return 12 players from the 2024 season. Midfielder Miki Hayashi made an impact in the home opener with the first Sun Devil goal of the year from a corner kick against Nevada. In addition, UCLA transfer Peyton Marcisz registered her first career goal in the win over Nevada on August 14 and the game-winning goal against New Mexico State on August 31.

Mississippi State transfer Sierra Bergen recorded a brace in the win against Texas State, Washington transfer Tatum Thomason scored her first goal as a Sun Devil against Texas State and scored in the 3-0 victory over UNLV.

Sun Devil Hall of Fame
Cali Farquharson is one of eight inductees in the Sun Devil Athletics class of 2025. Farquharson, left an indelible mark on Sun Devil Soccer during her career from 2012-15 and the only Sun Devil to record double-digit goals in four straight seasons. She finished her career second all-time in goals (44) and points (102). 

Farquharson was a clutch performer, one of four at ASU through 2015 with more than 10 game-winning goals. She earned NSCAA All-Region honors and All-Pac-12 recognition three times.

Spanning the Globe
The Sun Devil soccer team has 17 international student-athletes competing, led by Canada with seven players. England (four) and South Africa (two) also have multiple players, while, Japan, Norway, Germany and the Netherlands have one player each.

Sun Devils For Life, and Only Sun Devils:
With the transfer portal impacting collegiate athletics and roster movement taking place in all sports. Players staying all four years at a college isn’t as common as it used to be. Below is a list of Sun Devil Soccer players who have started as Sun Devils and will finish their careers as Sun Devils.

In the win against Texas State, Ava Wright scored her second career goal off a corner kick and her first since September 18, 2022 against Toledo.

Four-year Sun Devils
Ava Wright, Defender, Coldstream, B.C.
Brianna Nunley, Midfielder, Chandler, Arizona
Pauline Nelles, Goalkeeper, Bonn, Germany     
Meighan Farrel, Defender, Walnut Creek, California.

Barrett, The Honors College
The Sun Devils have nine student-athletes enrolled in Barrett, The Honors College. Honors students are diverse and come from a wide range of backgrounds. Barrett students take additional honors courses and are required to complete a thesis during their college experience. 

Soccer student-athletes in Barrett, The Honors College:
Norah Bell, Business
Kierra Blundell, Sports Science and Performance Programming
Addison Haws, Biological Sciences (Biomedical Sciences)
Miki Hayashi, Data Science
Olivia Herrera, Business (Sports Business)
Brianna Nunley, Marketing
Katie Ozard, Medical Studies
Tano Uzezi-Itesa, Health Sciences
Ava Wright, Biological Sciences, (Biomedical Sciences)

W.P. Carey Night and Professional Clothing Drive:
On Thursday when the Sun Devils host the Waves, the game theme is Dress for Success, where people and donate clothing in exchange for a free kick for an upcoming 2025 Sun Devil Soccer home match.

Sunday Funday:
Kids 6th grade and under can join in all the Sunday Funday festivities including pre-game poster making, halftime penalty kicks on Sparky, and post-game Play on the Pitch with their favorite Sun Devil Soccer athletes.

Blundell’s Best:
Appearing in all 19 matches as a freshman last season Blundell garnered 2024 Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors and scored a team-best nine goals, which was ninth nationally among freshmen last year and eighth in the Big 12 overall. 

The sophomore had two multi-goal games last season, including a hat trick against Penn. Her two game-winning goals came against Houston and Penn. In 2024, the Sun Devils were 7-3-1 when Blundell registered at least one point in a match.

Looking Ahead:
The Sun Devils remain in Tempe to take on UTEP next Friday against UTEP on September 12 where the program will celebrate 30 years of Sun Devil Soccer and honor alumni, and the team’s senior class. The match is slated for 7 p.m. MST and can be seen on ESPN+

Be sure to stay connected with Sun Devil Soccer throughout the season on social media by following @SunDevilSoccer on Instagram, X (formerly twitter), and Facebook.