Unbeaten in its last five games, the ASU soccer team continued to build on past success this weekend in Tempe.
The Sun Devils (4-2-3) secured a 2-1 victory against Cal State Northridge (5-2-0) on Friday night.
Senior forward Carla Scanniello had the first Sun Devil goal of the game. CSUN came back to capitalize on a penalty kick, tying the game 1-1.
It wasn’t until sophomore forward Karin Volpe scored her fifth goal of the season late in the second half that the Sun Devils would secure the victory. Volpe’s goal ties her season total from last year, when she led the team in goals.
"[Karin's goal] was an individual effort," coach Kevin Boyd said.
"We'd been creating opportunities all night and she got it. She hit a good, hard shot."
Sunday, the Sun Devils played Michigan (3-4-2) to a 1-1 tie in double overtime.
“I thought we started off slow,” freshman forward Katie Shepard said. “But we worked really hard toward the end. We wanted to get opportunities, go forward and take shots.”
The Sun Devils had to return from deficit after a first half score by the Wolverines. From there, the team’s goal was to “make it dangerous.”
“We were shooting little bunnies of shots,” Boyd said. “Those are not dangerous shots. You have to get into the 18[-yard box] to do that.”
Sophomore midfielder Alexandra Elston tied the game at one late in the 86th minute, after being set up by sophomore midfielder Jill Shoquist’s header from senior defender Kylla Sjoman’s corner kick.
“It felt good to put one away,” Elston said. “We should have done it again in overtime, but we come away with a win and a tie this weekend; it could have been worse.”
Elston made her way onto the field Sunday afternoon in the usual manner. She was in her home uniform, dressed from head to toe in Sun Devil white.
As far as anyone could tell, preparation for the team’s final game of the weekend had been routine.
But upon closer inspection, there was an obvious difference.
Each one of the team’s players was displaying a small temporary tattoo. Most wore it on the side of their neck or behind their ear.
“We did it once last year and on an away trip this year,” Elston said. “It’s kind of a bonding thing. Sometimes our team just decides to do random things like that.”
The Sun Devils (4-2-3) continue their seven-game homestead next weekend, when they take on UC Santa Barbara and Long Beach State.
Reach the reporter at emiley.darling@asu.edu.
