She may not have known it existed, but nevertheless ASU freshman forward Elizabeth Bogus was glad to win women soccer's Pac-10 Freshman of the year honors after the conclusion of the season.
"I was pretty surprised about it to tell you the truth," she said. "I didn't know there was such a thing. I just hadn't thought about it."
The reason she had not thought about it is she was too busy scoring goals for the Sun Devils this season. The product of Brighton High School in Sandy, Utah netted 10 goals to lead ASU this season, while adding three assists for 23 points, also a team high. The performance helped get the Sun Devils back to the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in the program's seven-year history.
"It's exciting," Bogus said about winning the award. "It's a total team effort though. They got a lot of great balls to me, and you can't do anything if you don't get good balls played in to you."
Two other individual accolades were dished out to Sun Devil players for their outstanding seasons. Junior defender Amy LePeilbet won her second consecutive first-team award while freshman midfielder Manya Makoski grabbed second-team honors.
LePeilbet had a stellar season anchoring the Sun Devil defense which allowed just 19 goals in as many regular season games. She even contributed offensively, netting goals in consecutive games to double her scoring output from her freshman and sophomore campaigns combined. LePeilbet's five total points ranked tied for fourth on the squad with junior midfielder Patrice Feulner.
"I was excited," LePeilbet said. "My team had a lot to do with it, they pushed me and we all played together well."
Makoski's honor was also well earned, as the freshman from Trumbull, Connecticut checked in at second in Sun Devil scoring with 21 points. She led the team in assists (9) and tied for second in goals (6) with fellow freshman midfielder Brittany Cooper. Makoski's nine assists gave her the Sun Devil all-time single season record in that category
Both Makoski and Bogus were important catalysts to the Sun Devil offense in the postseason as well. Bogus scored the first goal in a 2-1 win over Washington State in the first round of the tournament, and Makoski assisted on the eventual game winner scored by Cooper. In the second round against Santa Clara, Makoski got the Sun Devils rolling again with a first half goal, but an early second half injury put her out for the remainder of the contest, which turned quickly on ASU in a 5-1 loss.
For Bogus, it was the second time a freshman has won the award, as former All-American Stacey Tullock garnered the honor in her first season with the Sun Devils in 1998.
With one season under her belt, Bogus will return to the Sun Devils with virtually the same squad as last year, as only senior Lindsey Mack was lost. Bogus looks to be even more competitive with the experienced gained this year.
"You just keep working as hard as you can," she said. "You want to go farther next year...it's going to take more, you have to work harder and keep improving as a team and an individual. We want to make the tournament and go as far as we can. It's something you have to work towards, and I think we can do it."
Reach the reporter at casey.pritchard@asu.edu.
