Chemistry, creativity and confidence are some of the key components contributing to the early success of the ASU women's soccer team. The Sun Devils are 2-0-1 heading into their third week of play.
The ASU defense is a huge factor to the strong season start, allowing 38 shots total with 18 being on goal — a 47.4 shot on goal percentage.
Throughout training, head coach Kevin Boyd pushed the fundamentals of defense to his whole squad, noting the importance of teamwork.
“We are teaching defending to the whole group and our whole team defends together,” Boyd said. “In preseason we start with defending and we build it all the way up, and our focus is trying to give them a lot of different scenarios.”
Junior defender Taylor Coon applauded the work of her teammates for making the job on the back line easier.
“Team defending is a big thing, so defending starts with our front line and they’ve been killing it lately," Coon said. "It helps and puts a lot less pressure on us."
The forward position, according to Boyd, is more focused on possession with a touch of imagination — something the defensive side is limited to because of the need to be risk-free playmakers.
“Because there is one ball and 22 people on the field, there is an abundance of options depending on your own creativity and ability,” Boyd said. “So you have to teach them a general framework that we want to play like this, but also find a way to give them freedom to express themselves and create.”
Junior forward Jazmarie Mader is happy with her fellow forwards for creating positive vibes and working hard.
“I think the forwards have done exceptionally well," she said. "We are getting numbers up and getting goals which is really important."
Mastering the forward position comes with an acceptance of not always getting results. Players improve throughout the season as teams settle down and mature.
Soccer strategy is not solely focused on attacking — there needs to be a balance between scoring and not surrendering.
“The hard thing for a forward is that it's very confidence based, whereas a defender gets confidence by destroying a play," Boyd said. "An attacker gets confidence by creating and beating people and that’s so much harder to do.
"You can’t give fake confidence and try and make someone confident when they are not having success."
The team’s success can also be attributed to chemistry, something that Mader feels is very strong.
“I think (the) chemistry (is) the best that I have ever played within my 17 years of playing,” Mader said. “I think that’s really amazing and I am super lucky to be able to have that kind of chemistry on a collegiate team.”
Boyd has tried to build a strong culture of teamwork, and said she believes all the pieces are working right.
“It’s a great group,” Boyd said. “They are also just in general respectable, fun, nice people so it's just a collection of individuals that think along the same lines and also have respect for one another. That makes a huge difference.”
ASU will host the Sun Devil Desert Classic this weekend, Sept. 2 and 4, and take on Columbia on Friday at 4:30 at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.
Reach the reporter at kcvalen1@asu.edu or follow @kvalenzuela17 on Twitter.
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