Coming off an undefeated weekend to start the season, the 21st-ranked ASU soccer team will travel to Colorado Springs this weekend for the Colorado College Tournament.
The Sun Devils are slated to face Denver at 3:00 p.m. today, before playing Southern Methodist at 11 a.m. Sunday. It will mark the first time ASU has played either school in its seven-year history.
Sun Devil head coach Ray Leone's team captured its first victory Sunday with a 2-1 triumph at New Mexico. ASU (1-0-1) jumped on the Lobos early when freshman midfielder Brittany Cooper scored in the 13th minute on a pass from sophomore defender Shawn Reynolds. The Sun Devils struck again in the 24th minute, as junior defender Temryss Lane extended the lead by netting her first goal of the season.
New Mexico mounted a comeback in the second half. ASU sophomore goaltender Kelly Fitzgerald's shutout bid was broken up with 8:12 remaining when junior midfielder Erchen Theys tallied to cut the lead in half. But the Lobos were unable to get the equalizer.
"We had a good first half, and a not so good second," Leone said. "It's just some early-season stuff we need to work on."
Although Leone was pleased with his team's first win, he said there are still many games to be played and a long four weeks before the Sun Devils begin the Pac-10 season. In the meantime, Leone plans on playing more freshmen so they can get experience for the rest of the season.
"We're working with different combinations of players right now," he said. "We had four starting freshmen in the last game, and we're probably going to have six (today)."
Scouting Denver: The Pioneers, who were tabbed to finish first this year in the Sun Belt Conference, are coming off their first win of the season, a 2-0 victory Sunday over Fresno State. Senior midfielders Kristen Warren and Katie Antongiovanni both tallied in the win.
Last year, Denver (1-0) became the first team in its conference to make an appearance in the NCAA tournament by gaining an at-large bid with a win in the SBC championship game. The Pioneers, who finished the season 16-3-2, bowed out to Stanford in the first round of the postseason.
Denver returns nine starters from last year, including junior All-American defender Jamie Norwood. Also coming back is all-region senior goalkeeper Erica Izard, who marked a school-record 14 shutouts in 2001.
Scouting Southern Methodist: The Mustangs (1-1) are coming off a 2-1 double overtime loss to eighth-ranked Texas A&M. The setback came just two days after Southern Methodist celebrated a 5-1 win over Duquesne in its season opener. Senior forward Tara Comfort leads the Mustangs with six points (two goals, two assists).
Southern Methodist, the Western Athletic Conference champions, finished 16-4 last year and were eliminated in the second round of the NCAA tournament by Texas A&M.
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
