FINAL TUNEUP: Women’s soccer freshman defender/midfielder Kaitlyn Pavlovich swipes at the ball during practice Thursday. The team's season begins Friday against NAU. (Photo by Chris Stark)

When it comes to labels, “back-to-back conference champion” carries a lot of weight.

The ASU women’s soccer team, however, welcomes the challenge to take on back-to-back Big Sky Conference champion Northern Arizona in Friday’s season opening road game.

“We’ve got some players who can be exciting in the attack,” coach Kevin Boyd said. “I think we can be dangerous and special up top this year. We just need to establish our game and what we’re trying to do.”

The Sun Devils are 6-1 all time against the Lumberjacks and have not lost to them since 2001.

ASU topped NAU 4-0 in Tempe last season with the help of two goals from current senior forward Karin Volpe.

NAU’s consecutive Big Sky titles earned it two straight automatic berths to the NCAA Tournament. The Lumberjacks lost in the first round to No. 2 seeded Portland, 6-1, in 2008 and again in the first round to top-seeded Stanford, 2-0, in 2009.

Four of NAU’s top five scorers return from last season’s 10-9-2 squad, including junior forward Jenna Samora, who led the team in 2009 with eight goals. The NAU roster also boasts eight returning seniors.

On Saturday, the Lumberjacks routed Embry-Riddle 7-1 in an exhibition match. Samora, senior defender Kristi Andreassen and junior forward Chelsea Bednarz each netted two goals during the match.

Boyd said that playing the Lumberjacks in Flagstaff is always a greater challenge than taking them on in Tempe.

“They’re a good team,” Boyd said. “They’re well organized and well coached. They play with passion and fire.”

Boyd said travel and the higher altitude could have an effect on the team as well, but stressed that getting off to a quick start will be key.

“Often times in early games in the year, teams aren’t keeping the ball that well,” Boyd said. “We’re traditionally a team that is good on the ball. That’s something that we weren’t that pleased with last year, but we feel like we’re going to be better at this year. We need to see how quickly we can get that into play.”

The youth of the Sun Devils’ back line also looks to be factor against NAU, but Boyd said he was pleased with its performance in last week’s exhibition match against Loyola-Marymount and expects to see the strong play continue.

Senior midfielder Alexandra Elston, who led ASU in scoring last season, is also looking to create some sparks up front.

“Obviously we’re hoping to score some goals,” Elston said. “We did a really good job in the LMU game with our defense, but our offense was a little bland. We’re hoping to get a little creative on offense.”

The Flagstaff showdown with NAU starts at 4 p.m. in Lumberjack Stadium.

Reach the reporter at egrasser@asu.edu.

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