Sun Devil Soccer concludes the non-conference game with home games against Grambling State & Toledo
IF: Wednesday at 7pm MST
WHERE: Sun Devil Football Stadium • Tempe, Ariz.
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The Sun Devil soccer team concludes the non-conference game with two home competitions against Grambling State (Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.) and against Toledo (Sun. at 7:00 p.m.). Wednesday’s contest against Grambling State was added to the ASU schedule on September 1. The game replaced the Hawaii game, which was canceled on August 18 due to weather.
The Sun Devils (2-0-2) return to action for the first time in 13 days after their bouts against Georgia Southern (September 4) and current No. 9/undefeated Pepperdine (September 8) were canceled due to Covid -19 logs.
The fact that the Sun Devils are undefeated is a testament to the team’s focus on getting through the games so far, despite the obstacles they’ve overcome.
Both competitions in ASU’s opening weekend were affected by the weather. ASU’s opening game, a 1-1 draw with 2021 NCAA tournament entrant South Dakota State, began and ended on the night of August 18 (it was played 48 minutes before play was interrupted by lightning). on the morning of August 19th. Keri Matthews’ The first career goal separated Friday’s game 1-1 after SDSU took the lead in Thursday’s evening session.
ASU’s next scheduled contest against Hawaii (Aug. 21) hasn’t even started yet, as the contest was delayed by a flash just as the teams were warming up. The game was eventually abandoned.
The Sun Devils were able to start and finish their first road competition, a 2-1 win at Boise State (Aug. 25), without unusual interruptions. However, weather problems came into play again in ASU’s subsequent game, a 1-1 draw in Denver (Aug. 28) — a lightning 50-minute delay before the start of the second half.
Ahead of the current break, ASU returned home and scored the most goals since the 2021 season opener in the 6-2 win over UAB (September 1).
The Sun Devils were led by returning All-Americans NicoleDouglas, who became ASU’s all-time leader in career goals after scoring twice in the win over UAB. Douglas equaled and passed Stacey Tullock (50 goals/1998-2001) of the Sun Devil Hall of Fame and now has 51 career goals. After failing to hit the back of the net in the season opener, Douglas has exploded for five goals in ASU’s last three games. Douglas (120 career points/51 goals and 18 assists), who also equaled Tullock’s school record for career winning goals (16) in defeating UAB, is now targeting Tullock’s school record (125 points), which she needs six more points to gain surpass
The Sun Devils enter the regular season this weekend with a record of 25-7-2, non-conference games since 2018.
NOTES FROM LAST GAME
• With two goals against UAB, NicoleDouglas has now scored 11 multiple goals in a game in his career, including twice this season. Three times she has equaled the school record in one game (three goals).
• Douglas has scored 24 goals in ASU’s 24 games since last season. She started the week tied third in the nation in goals per game (1.25) and second in points per game (2.75).
• Defender Lucy Johnson tied the single-game school record with three assists against UAB. She tied teammate NicoleDouglas (vs Central Arkansas on August 25, 2019) and Lucy Lara (vs Pepperdine on September 11, 2015).
• Student in the first year Enasia colon scored her first goal of the season. second grader Keri Matthews scored for the second time in her career while being a veteran midfielder Alexia Delgado and Eva van Deursen both score their first goals of the season.
• Freshman goalie Pauline Neles was not available in the first week as she was still playing with the German national team at the U20 World Cup in Costa Rica. She made her college start at Boise State, a difficult task for any player making his first start. All four of their saves came on the second stick as Boise State desperately looked for an equalizer after the Broncos halved ASU’s lead in the 74th minute. She also had a save in ASU’s 1-1 draw in Denver (Aug. 28) and followed that with a season-high five saves against UAB (September 1).
HISTORY ON THE HUNT
All eyes are on the 2021 NCAA scoring leader NicoleDouglas, who was honored as a third-team All-America last season and was one of 13 players named to the All-Pac-12 First Team. As the first Sun Devil since 2002 to earn All-America honors, Douglas set the single-season school records for goals (19 – No. 1 in the nation) and points (45) in 2021. She also led the nation in goals per game (0.95) and points per game (2.25).
On September 1, 2022, Douglas became ASU’s all-time leader in career goals after hitting the back of the net twice in ASU’s 6-2 win over UAB. Douglas equaled and passed Stacey Tullock (50 goals/1998-2001) of the Sun Devil Hall of Fame and now has 51 career goals. Douglas (120 career points/51 goals and 18 assists), who also equaled Tullock’s school record for career winning goals (16) in defeating UAB, is now targeting Tullock’s school record (125 points) – she needs six more points to top it.
Douglas, who has started all 75 games of her ASU career, scored or assisted in all but five games last season and had a streak where she scored at least one goal in seven straight games. She has 11 multiple goals in a game during her career and has set the school record for goals (3) in a game three times and the record for assists (3) in a game once.
On August 18, it was announced that Douglas was one of 60 players on the 2022 Hermann Trophy Watch List. Presented annually by the Missouri Athletic Club, the Hermann Trophy is the nation’s highest individual award, recognizing the national player of the year.
ON THE HISTORY PART II
Also within reach of breaking a program career record is the fifth-year midfielder Eva van Deursen (22 career assists/tie second place with Manya Makoski 2002-05), who needs four assists to become ASU’s all-time leader. ASU Hall of Famer Stacey Tullock (first place/25 assists/1998-2001) holds the school record.
Last season, van Deursen, who also scored three goals, set the school’s all-time record with 10 assists. At the end of the season, van Deursen led the Pac-12 and was the nation’s No. 19 in assists per game (.56). She finished her single-game career with assists (two) twice high in ASU’s wins at UAB (Aug. 29) and Utah (Oct. 31).
ABOUT THE SCHEDULE
ASU’s 2022 schedule features five contests against teams that qualified for last season’s NCAA tournament: South Dakota State (T, 1-1), Stanford, UCLA, USC and Washington State. The Sun Devils missed an opportunity to face a top-10 team when their game against then-No.10 and undefeated Pepperdine (September 8) was canceled due to Covid-19 protocols.
ASU’s first two street opponents — Boise State (W, 2-1) and Denver (T, 1-1) — narrowly missed out on an automatic NCAA tournament spot last season after failing in the championship game of their respective conference tournaments . Ditto for Wednesday’s enemy, Grambling State.
HOW’S THAT FOR EXPERIENCE?
ASU is bringing back a quartet of fifth-year players in the form of forwards NicoleDouglas (75 starts/75 games) and Olivia Nguyen (40 starts/65 games, including 39 starts in 41 games since the start of their junior season) and midfielders Alexia Delgado (61 starts/68 games) and Eva van Deursen (70 starts/73 games). The four players have played 281 games combined, including 246 starts.
The Sun Devils are also bringing back two more players with more than 50 games starting experience: defenders Lieske Carleer (56 starts/55 career games) and defender/midfielder Callie Darst (59 starts in 61 career games).
NO MORE FREE FOOTBALL IN REGULAR SEASON
Last April, the NCAA Playing Rules Oversight Panel approved overtime rule changes in both regular and postseason men’s and women’s soccer that will apply to the 2022 season.
For the regular season, overtime has been abolished, meaning if a game ends in a tie after the regular 90 minutes, it ends in a tie. Previously, teams played two 10-minute overtimes in a sudden-victory (golden goal) format, and if neither team scored, the game ended in a draw.
In conference tournaments and NCAA postseason games, the sudden win component has been eliminated, and teams play two 10-minute overtimes instead. The game clock will also stop if the winning team makes a substitution in the last five minutes of the second overtime.
If the game is a tie, a penalty shootout will be held to determine the winner.
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