Her teammates and coaches may call her "Canada," but junior defender Kylla Sjoman has found a home in Tempe and has been making an impact on and off the field since she arrived on campus in 2005.
Sjoman certainly has the experience, she has started every single game that she has suited up as a Sun Devil, and ASU coach Kevin Boyd pinned her as a team leader at the start of training camp.
"She's a soccer junkie and her teammates know that," he said. "She likes to take our set pieces and is always practicing to get better and I think it's that type of commitment to the game that makes the players around her appreciate her. She's willing to state her mind and that makes a big difference as well."
Sjoman said that she wants to set an example and be a vocal leader now that she is an upperclassman.
"I'm the type of person that [likes to lead] on the field," she said. "I like to talk on the field and I just want to be out there and pushing everyone throughout the games."
And Sjoman is also very popular with her teammates away from the soccer field.
"Our house is like the soccer house, everyone comes over," she said. "I cook for everyone. We're a big family."
Sjoman grew up in Burnaby, British Columbia, and started playing soccer at the age of seven when those around her thought she had some natural talent.
"My neighbors noticed that I had a pretty good left foot and they were like 'you should sign up for soccer,' so pretty much after that I started playing," she said.
While attending Burnaby Central Secondary School, Sjoman played basketball and volleyball in addition to soccer and was named the Female Athlete of the Year two years in a row.
However, Sjoman always knew that she would ultimately pursue soccer.
"I liked basketball a lot during high school, but I think I was just always a bit better and soccer," she said. "There was something about soccer that drove me towards it and I had to stick with it."
Coming out of high school, Sjoman was an international Top-25 recruit by Soccer Buzz Magazine and was discovered by ASU when a former player e-mailed former head coach Ray Leone who then invited her on a recruiting trip.
Sjoman started all 20 games for the Sun Devils as a freshman and as a sophomore led the team with five assists, which also tied for ninth in the Pac-10.
Sjoman said that highlights of her Sun Devil career so far include having an unbeaten record against UA and the friendships she has made with her teammates.
Sjoman also said that she has been impressed with the way sports in general are treated in the U.S.
"Athletics are way different [in the U.S.]," she said. "There's so much support in the U.S. for soccer and female athletics. I'm so grateful for everything we have here."
This season, Boyd expects Sjoman to continue to grow as a player and expects her to be a key part of the team.
"I think that her upside is quite a bit higher than where she is right now," he said. "Not to say she's doing poorly, that's not the case at all, it's just I really think she can be impacting the game quite a bit. I think she has a good head on her and I feel like she's grasping what we want her to do and what we're trying to do as a team."
Following her time at ASU, Sjoman wants to use her degree in exercise and wellness and her youth coaching certificate to somehow stay involved in the game.
"I'm not exactly sure what I want to do with [my degree and coaching certificate], but I want to stay with soccer whether it's coaching or athletic training," she said.
With just under two years left in maroon and gold, Sjoman wants to help her team make the playoffs and win a Pac-10 title while she's here, and then wants to continue to watch the program grow as a whole when she's gone.
"This is the year that we're going to make the changes," she said.
Reach the reporter at: gina.mizell@asu.edu.
