Video by Ben Margiott | Multimedia Reporter
ASU soccer's early offensive output helped the Sun Devils dispatch their northern neighbors, the NAU Lumberjacks, 4-2 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Coach Kevin Boyd's squad put on a show at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium, in front of a record crowd of 2,067 fans with a large contingent of NAU fans traveling to watch the game.
Redshirt senior forward Jessica Domenichelli heads the ball in a game against NAU, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014 at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium in Tempe. The Sun Devils defeated the Lumberjacks 4-2. (Photo by Ben Moffat)The stands were so packed, that overflow occurred on the west end of the field to accommodate the fans.
ASU was off to the races the instant the game kicked off. Freshman forward Aly Moon scored the first goal of the game in just 25 seconds, assisted by a long through ball from freshman defender Madison Stark to the right of the box.
Moon would not waste any time scoring her second goal, adding another in the 5th minute of the game, assisted by junior forward Cali Farquharson, to put ASU up 2-0 early in the first half.
“You never expect that,” Boyd said. “You always hope for it, but I thought it was an outstanding start for us and I wanted us to keep the foot on the gas a little bit more than that, I thought we let up just a touch, but you could also that they responded.”
Farquharson was subbed out in the 15th minute of the game after she was seen hobbling on the field; she would not re-enter.
Sophomore defender Larisa Staub runs with the ball in a game against NAU, Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014 at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium in Tempe. The Sun Devils defeated the Lumberjacks 4-2. (Photo by Ben Moffat)“Well, she didn't go back in, so thats never a good sign, but we are going to hope to heal her and get her ready for Friday night,” Boyd said. “I thought the team responded really well without her, because she has been such a critical piece to our team, but I thought we did a great job of playing without her.”
The Lumberjacks exposed some of the defensive shortcomings on ASU's back line, getting on the board in the 19th minute of the game off of a goal by junior forward Haley Wingender, her 12th of the season.
Just before the end of the half, ASU would add its third goal, this time coming from senior defender Brianna Gonzalez, who was assisted by sophomore defender Larisa Staub on the play. The goal was Gonzalez’s first of her career.
“It was awesome,” Gonzalez said. “I don't think I could have picked a better time to do it. It was really exciting.”
The Sun Devils would head to the locker room holding a commanding 3-1 lead at the half.
ASU would continue the trend of scoring early, with junior midfielder Whitney Kanavel scoring off an assist from Moon just two minutes into the second half — her first goal of the season — giving the Sun Devils an insurmountable 4-1 advantage.
NAU wouldn’t go down without a fight, with junior midfielder Cierra Gamble cracking a shot in from 35 yards away in the 63rd minute, her fourth of the season.
“I thought they gave us quite a game, I thought it was very close,” Boyd said. “We did a good job getting a couple goals early in each half, in the first five minutes really, we found goals, and they responded in a great way, two real good goals out of the midfield from them.”
With the win, the Sun Devils advanced to the next stage in the playoffs, where they will duel with No. 3 seed Kentucky in Virginia.
“The great thing about playing in this conference is that we've had to battle to get through the conference,” Boyd said. “Our conference is so good. So it doesn't matter who we face, we've faced their like or better, and we know that. We feel like we are battle ready, and we are going to go in and give it our best game.”
The Sun Devils next face Kentucky on Friday, Nov. 21 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Reach the reporter at mtsteine@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @MarcTSteiner
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