(Tempe, AZ) Enasia Colon claimed her third brace of the season scoring goals in the 22nd minute and again in 58th minute, while Pauline Nelles made four of her five saves in the second half to lead the Sun Devil soccer team (6-1-3, 1-0 Pac-12) to a 2-0 win over Oregon State (3-3-3, 0-1) in the Pac-12 opener for both teams.
HOW IT HAPPENED
First Half
In the sixth minute, Savannah Maley nearly had a dangerous scoring opportunity, but she was not able to control the long pass she attempted to receive in the box.
Colon took the first shot of the game, a dart from the top of the 18, straight to the OSU goal that was saved by Beaver goalkeeper Hailey Koll.
Nelles prevented a Beaver goal in the 20th minute when she left her feet to reach a rolling shot that had plenty of velocity on it.
The Sun Devils struck first when Colon scored her team-leading fifth goal of the season in the 23rd minute. Ella Opkvitne started the sequence with a pass to Maley who was making a run on the outside to the left of Opkvitne. Maley sent a perfect cross into the box that Colon finished off for the goal.
Lucy Johnson had an opportunity to score another ASU goal in the 30th minute. After catching up to a ball that was rolling into the box, Johnson quicky hit her shot that was just wide.
Second Half
Keri Matthews made a great play in the opening minute of the second half, clearing a ball out of a dangerous area after Nelles came off her line to try and contest a Beaver scoring opportunity.
Matthews and Colon worked the give-and-go to perfection for ASU’s second goal of the game. Colon dribbled down the center of the field, passed to Matthews, who then passed right back to Colon, who found the back of the net for the second time in the game.
Nelles made another diving save in the 81st minute to keep the Beavers off the scoreboard.
Noteworthy
Graham Winkworth remained unbeaten in Pac-12 openers (5-0-2) as head coach at ASU.
With her two-goal performance vs. Oregon State, Colon now has three two-goal games this season. Colon also scorer a pair of goals in the season opener vs. Wright State and again at New Mexico State.
Nelles collected her seventh complete-game shutout of the season and the 10th of her career.
Quoting Head Coach Graham Winkworth
“Tonight was an excellent night for the team. I first want to thank the incredible crowd that showed up. Not only were they here in their numbers, but they cheered for 90 minutes and really gave us what felt like a 12th player on the pitch.”
“I loved that we scored two very good counter attacking goals. It is an area of the game we have struggled in for a while and so the way they connected in those moments of transition was really special. The creative pieces by Ella, Sav and Kez were brilliant and Ena’s finishes were top class. I had a good feeling she was going to score tonight.”
“I am very proud of the amount of running the team put in when out of possession. It is not the fun part of the game but it makes such a difference and it was this that helped us to limit our opponents offense.”
“To keep seven clean sheets in 10 games is magnificent and I am very proud of the efforts. This was maybe our most complete performance so far this season.”
“This is a very special group of women. It is an absolute joy to be around them each day and I consider myself lucky to have the greatest job in America. Tonight was a great advert for the culture, style of soccer and family we want Sun Devil Soccer to be known for.”
Up Next
The Sun Devils will travel to the Bay Area for matches at second-ranked Stanford (Thursday at 7 p.m. MST) and at California (Sunday at 1 p.m. MST).
Press Release courtesy of Sun Devil Athletics – Steve Rodriguez
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