After a 15-month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, ASU soccer played its first games of the 2021 season on Thursday and Sunday, defeating the University of Texas at El Paso 3-1 and winning against New Mexico State 4-0.
University of Texas at El Paso
After being unable to score for the first 34 minutes, ASU broke through when junior forward Nicole Douglas took a shot from outside of the penalty box that went over the keeper’s head and into the net to give the team a 1-0 lead.
ASU sustained its momentum in the second half, with junior midfielder Olivia Nguyen chipping in a shot just in front of the net to double the Sun Devil advantage just over 10 minutes into the half.
Late in the half, junior forward Vildan Kardesler pounced on a loose ball near the penalty box and passed it off to Douglas, who sank her second goal of the day shortly after.
UTEP scored with just over a minute remaining in the game, with ASU eventually winning 3-1. The Miners only generated three shots and just one shot on goal.
"I think after 15 months, we were a bit nervous in the first game back in the first 15 minutes," Douglas said. "But once we scored that goal, we got our confidence levels up, and it just continued from there to create our chances, and ultimately we were scoring goals,”
New Mexico State
ASU once again threatened early and often against New Mexico State but couldn’t find the back of the net in the first 22 minutes. That is until Douglas again opened the scoring with her third goal of the season.
After not scoring for the remainder of the first half, ASU broke away from New Mexico State in the second half. Junior Eva van Deursen scored her first goal of the season, and Douglas tacked on two more in the period for her second career hat trick to give ASU a 4-0 win.
"I'm really proud of her (Douglas), she's started this season really well," coach Graham Winkworth said after Sunday's victory.
Douglas said the team "wanted to make a statement" to start the season, adding the work she put in during the long offseason has paid off thus far.
ASU will play a home-and-away against GCU next. The Sun Devils will travel to face the Lopes on Feb. 11 and host them on Feb. 14.
Reach the reporter at dmwilhe1@asu.edu and follow @dmwilhelm225 on Twitter.
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