With a sleek foot and a great presence of mind, freshman midfielder Manya Makoski has quickly turned into one of ASU's brightest soccer stars.
A product of Trumbull High School in Trumbull, Conn., Makoski missed the Sun Devils' first two contests of the season due to time playing with the U-19 World Cup Team.
"Each game was really important in showing how I play," Makoski said. "The games in the World Cup were really important because we made history."
The team made history by winning the 2002 FIFA World Championship in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. For Makoski, it was a great experience that helped prepare her for big game situations down the road.
"I played in front of 50,000 people, so playing in a crowd [at ASU] I'm used to it, it's not as bad," she said.
When Makoski returned to the lineup she made an immediate impact for the Sun Devils, scoring her first goal in her second game back, a 2-1 overtime loss to Southern Methodist. Since then, Makoski has added three more goals and a team-leading seven assists to give her 15 points. She is second on the team behind freshman forward Elizabeth Bogus (21).
Bogus and Makoski are no strangers to each other on or off the field. The two live together with freshman midfielder Brittany Cooper. Cooper has four goals, four assists and 12 points on the season, third most on the team. Makoski said she, Cooper and Bogus have worked well together.
"We work a lot on making runs together and playing the ball to each other," Makoski said. "We're all roommates so we have connection."
Makoski continued on to discuss how much she needs to communicate with her teammates versus knowing where they are on the field.
"It's about half and half," Makoski said. "We know what runs we're going to make, but we still have to tell each other where we're going to be."
Makoski definitely knows where her teammates are going to be. If her team-leading assists total does not speak for itself, her teammates cannot stop boasting about her ability to put the ball onto their feet.
"I'm really confident about that," she said. "I know where they'll be and I know how to get it there."
With the season moving towards a close, Makoski and the Sun Devils (10-3-2, 3-2 Pac-10) realize how important the next four games on their schedule will be as they wrap up the Pac-10 season and look towards the NCAA Tournament.
"Of course we want to make it to the National Championship and win the Pac-10," Makoski said. "It's a very realistic goal; we just have to work towards it. The next four games are really important so we have to win those."
The four contests start this Friday at 7 p.m. when Washington State comes into town for the first of ASU's last two home games of the season. Sunday's 1 p.m. start against Washington will wrap things up at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium. ASU will then travel to the Bay Area to face California and Stanford next weekend.
Despite all of Makoski's individual success, she has nothing but praise for ASU head coach Ray Leone.
"He's a great coach," she said. "He knows what he's doing, he is so enthusiastic and inspiring, and he's just amazing."
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
