After an overtime win against Washington Thursday, ASU soccer has rediscovered the attitude that led them to four straight victories at the start of the season.
Head coach Kevin Boyd said his team feels better knowing they can still beat tough opponents. The key, he said, is repetition.
One of the missing ingredients for the Sun Devils (5-7-1) during their recent losing streak was optimism.
"We were talking about positive energy and belief," Boyd said. "Our effort was continuous, it was the entire time and it was very good. We just had positive energy we were all believing that we could do it."
ASU has been able to regroup after a player gets injured and find players who can step up into new roles.
When they lost four-year starter Tommi Goodman for the season to injury, it left a big hole in the midfield that younger players needed to fill. Sophomore Madison Kmetko has risen to that challenge.
"The great thing about her is that she has one speed and that's all out," Boyd said. "She doesn't have anything else than that. I know when we put her in she's going to give us every ounce of energy she has."
Kmetko, who had an assist in the Washington game, said she and her teammates have noticed a big change in attitude coming off of a win.
"In the Washington game we noticed that we were all working together, we were really positive with each other," Kmetko said. "Nobody was afraid to mess up and everybody wanted to win. I think that's the positive mindset that we want going in to Oregon State."
Kmetko didn't get much playing time during her freshman season in Tempe. She played in eight games and only played more than 20 minutes in a game three times, logging what was once a personal best 37 minutes in 2014 in a game against Stanford.
This year Kmetko is coming off of a game in which she logged 63 minutes in a win against a ranked conference opponent. She has played 324 minutes this year in 11 games. Kmetko says that her lack of playing time last year served as motivation.
"I've always been somebody who works extremely hard," Kmetko said. "This year I've really stuck to that. I haven't given up, I've stayed positive and I think that I've finally kind of learned to understand my role more on the team."
The Sun Devils will resume Pac-12 play this Friday in a home game against Oregon State at 7 p.m.
Related Links:
What to watch for in ASU soccer's games against Oregon State, Oregon
Whitney Kanavel's golden goal lifts ASU soccer over No. 18 Washington
Reach the reporter at Lucas.Taglienti@asu.edu or follow @ltaglientivevo on Twitter
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