TEMPE – A pair of two-goal performances by Keri Matthews and Enasia Colon punctuated a scoring explosion in the second half as the Sun Devil soccer team opened its season with a 4-0 win over Wright State on Thursday night.
The offensive fireworks produced by the Sun Devils came in the immediate aftermath of a lightning delay that extended the usual 15-minute halftime.
Forty-eight seconds into the second half Matthews beat Wright State goalkeeper Kiera Sarka for the game’s first goal.
ASU doubled its advantage early in the 49th minute when newcomer Suzuka Yosue passed to Matthews, who tucked a shot from the far side of the 18 into the goal to extend ASU’s lead to 2-0.
Like Matthews, Colon’s two goals came less than three minutes apart. In the 74th minute, Colon took a pass from freshman Savannah Maley, beat a pair of defenders and got her shot past Sarka.
Colon closed out the scoring with an unassisted goal in the 77th minute to cap ASU’s 4-0 win.
Pauline Nelles, who missed last year’s season opener due to her participation with the German National Team at the U20 World Cup in Costa Rica, posted her fourth career shutout. The Sun Devil defense made it a relatively easy night for Nelles as the sophomore keeper had to face only one shot and one corner kick.
On the flip side, although the Sun Devils ended the contest with 25 shots, it was their efficiency that was the difference between the first and second halves. Despite overwhelming advantages in shots (13-0), shots on goal (4-0) and corner kicks (4-1), the Sun Devils (1-0) were not able to produce any goals. In the second half, ASU’s 12 shots produced five shots of goal, four of which found the back of the net.
The Sun Devils came out as the aggressors taking six shots in the game’s first five minutes. Maley had a good look off a corner in the 14th minute but her header was high. Moments later, Matthews sent an excellent pass into the box but the Devils were not able to convert. Maley, who had ASU’s first two shots on goal, had an excellent look in the 19th minute but Sarka, who made five saves in the game, was in the perfect spot to make her second save of the contest.
The Devils appeared to score the first goal early in the 35th minute when sophomore Andrea Kraetzer’s header found the back of the net. Unfortunately for ASU, an infraction called on the Sun Devils, negating the goal and the game remained scoreless.
Right before the half, freshman Florence Vaillancourt got behind the defense but once again Sarka was in position to make the save and the game remained scoreless at the intermission.
Maley (four) and Colon (three) combined for seven of ASU’s 13 shots in the first half. Maley (two) and Vaillancourt (two) accounted for all four of ASU’s shots on goal.
The lightning delay commenced just as the second half was about to start. Fortunately for both teams, the weather did not cause any further disruptions.
The Sun Devils return to action on Sunday (7 p.m. MST) when they host SEC foe Mississippi State. The game can be seen live on Pac-12 Networks.
KM thoughts on the match and scoring a brace…
“It feels great, great to be out on the pitch with the girls. Yeah, it’s a great day.”
KM thoughts on her two goals tonight…
“Yeah, both off my shins. First one was, was lucky the girl missed it and I was lucky to be in the right position [at the right] time. And the second one, I don’t know, that was just, that was just luck.”
KM, on the differences between the first and second halves…
“I mean, the first half, Wright State gave us a great game. It was really competitive and then we had the lightning break, I guess we could like rest a bit. I don’t really know what happened. I think once we got the first goal, it kind of opened up.”
KM, on Wright State’s defending her out of the scoring area…
“Yeah they were doing really well with that. They gave us a really good game for sure. It was a great opening night.”
KM, on playing games in Arizona August heat…
“Oh me, I’m always, I’m always breathing heavy but I feel good, you know, it was – we did a lot of rotation so it was good, kept the legs fresh.”
KM, on experimenting with new players in the lineup…
“Yeah, I mean, you can’t ask for a better night, like other than the lightning obviously, but to get all the new faces, to get everyone there like debuts – so all the freshman, like it’s great.”
EC, thoughts after the Sun Devils 4-0 win…
“I’d like to say thanks to my team because in the first half, it was kind of frustrating, you know, had a couple of shots they weren’t going in. But at half time when the lightning hit, we all talked in the locker room and they all hyped this all up, especially me and yeah.”
EC, thoughts on her two goals…
“The first one, the first one, honestly, I was just tired of cutting inside, so I decided to go down the line and then beat her on my first touch and then cut it and then I just shot it and then the second one assist from May (Meighan Farrell), honestly, she’s like my closest friend on the team, so it was kind of funny getting an assist from her inside of the box. I thought she was going to shoot it honestly, but it was kind of funny.”
EC, on new freshman players getting minutes in tonight’s match…
Yeah, I love, I love all the new girls Sav (Savannah Maley) is absolutely amazing. She has a great hold of play. She’s an amazing player. Can’t wait to play more games with her. And Sue (Suzuka Yosue,) Sue is honestly amazing. She’s super quick, super fast and I think that she has a great future ahead of her as well.
EC, on changing up her personal playing style in the second half…
I think the second half, I was more like relaxed, I think in the first half, I was just, you know, first game back in a year, we haven’t played since, you know, we didn’t have a spring season. But I think in the second half, I was just more laid back, let – draw the defender in and then go instead of just going, going, going, you know, change of pace too like, shake her off a little bit.
