ASU women's soccer earns NCAA berth

November 09, 2009

For the first time since 2003, the Arizona State women’s soccer team will be heading to the NCAA Tournament. The Sun Devils will begin tourney play on Friday when they face the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison, Wisc. (time TBA).<separator></separator>Under third-year head coach <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/boyd_kevin00.html">Kev… Boyd</a> the Sun Devils concluded the regular season with a 9-7-3 record (2-6-1 Pac-10). Earlier this season the Sun Devils broke into the Top 25 (19th) for the first time since the 2004 preseason when they began the season with a 7-1-2 record during the non-conference portion of their schedule. The Sun Devils concluded the regular season by winning their last two games, defeating Oregon State 1-0 in overtime on Friday and Oregon 2-1 on Sunday. The Sun Devils were one of eight Pac-10 schools – California, Oregon State, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State – that received NCAA bids. Offensively, the Sun Devils have been led this season by junior midfielder <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/elston_alexandra00.htm… Elston</a>, who had 20 points on seven goals and six assists. Defensively, senior <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/harkin_liz00.html">Liz Harkin</a> has been one of the top defenders in the country throughout the season. Freshman <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/gillmore_alyssa00.html… Gillmore</a> was in goal for the Sun Devils the last nine games of the season after senior <a href="http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/w-soccer/mtt/silvestri_briana00.htm… Silvestri</a>, the program’s all-time leader in goals against average, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the season’s 10th game.