Soccer Opens Big 12 Championship on Wednesday with Jayhawks
Game is the first conference tournament game in Sun Devil Soccer history
TEMPE – Sun Devil Soccer opens play at the 2024 Sprouts Farmers Market Big 12 Soccer Championship on Wednesday with a first round game against Kansas. The 11th-seeded Sun Devils and sixth-seeded Jayhawks will close the first day of play at CPKC Stadium at the new time of 3:15 p.m. AZT.
Arizona State ended its regular season with an 8-7-3 overall record after dropping five of its final six games. The Sun Devils went 3-7-1 in Big 12 play to tie for 10th in the final table by averaging 0.91 points per game. ASU went 6-4-2 at home and 2-3-1 on the road during the season.
The Sun Devils begin the postseason scoring 1.72 goals per game, which ranks them tied for 92nd in the NCAA. They have scored multiple goals in a game eight times. ASU attempts 13.44 shots per outing, and they put 44.6 percent of those chances on goal.
Kierra Blundell leads the team with eight goals and 22 points. Enasia Colon has seven goals and a team-best seven assists for 21 points. Cameron Valladares has also scored seven goals.
Pauline Nelles has her GAA at 1.39 while posting eight wins and six shutouts in goal for the Sun Devils. She stops 73.7 percent of shots on goal by the opposition.
Arizona State closed the regular season with a 1-0 loss at home to Arizona last Friday. It was the fourth time ASU had been shut out this season.
Watch
Every game of the Sprouts Farmers Market Big 12 Soccer Championship will be broadcast live on ESPN+, with Chuckie Kempf and Sarah Gonzalez calling the action.
Series Notes
ASU has a 1-2-1 record against the Jayhawks, including a 2-1 loss in Tempe on Oct. 20. ASU led that game 1-0 on an Olivia Coleman goal in the fifth minute, but Kansas scored the final two goals to earn the victory.
About Kansas
Kansas went 9-5-4 during the regular season and finished sixth in the Big 12 with a 6-4-1 record and 1.73 points per game.
Jillian Gregorski leads the Jayhawks with eight goals, while Lexi Watts has added seven. Saige Wimes has five goals. Sophie Dawe leads in goal with a 0.944 GAA and a .686 save percentage.
Program History
Wednesday's game will be the first conference tournament game in program history for the Sun Devils. During the teams time in the
Pac-12, the conference never held a postseason tournament.
Accolades
The Big 12 named Kierra Blundell the conference Freshman of the Year on Tuesday. She was also named to the All-Freshman Team and Second Team All-Conference. She is the third Sun Devil to win a conference Freshman of the Year award.
The Big 12 also named Enasia Colon to the All-Conference Second Team. It's the second straight season she has been honored with the 2023 selection from the Pac-12.
Twice is Nice
With an 8-0 when scoring at least two goals this season, ASU is 208-13-12 (.918) in program history when scoring multiple goals in a game. In addition, the team is 129-1-1 (.989) when scoring three-plus and 71-0 when scoring at least four goals.
Brace for Success
ASU has set the program record with five different players posting a multi-goal game this season. Kierra Blundell had the team's first hat trick since 2022, while Enasia Colon has twice scored two goals in a game. Megan Sofield, Cameron Valladares, and Keri Matthews each have also recorded a brace this season.
Freshman of the Year
Kierra Blundell leads ASU with eight goals and 22 points. Blundell is ninth in ASU history for goals scored by a freshman. Stacey Tullock holds the record with 13 goals in 1998. Six players have tallied at least ten goals during their freshman campaign in Tempe.
Colon All-Conference
With seven goals on the season, Enasia Colon has moved into a tie for 12th in program history with 18 career goals. Her assist against Kansas State on Oct. 17 was the 16th of her career to move into a tie for ninth at ASU.
Colon ranks 13th in team history with 52 career points. She also ranks in the ASU top 20 in shots, shots on goal, and shot percentage, along with per-game averages in goals, assists, and points.
Clutch Cam
Cameron Valladares extended her career high for goals in a season to seven when she scored against K-State. She is tied for second on the team in goals this season.
Four of Valladares's goals this season are game-winners, including her goal with 25 seconds remaining to defeat Utah Tech on Sept. 8. She is tied for the Big 12 lead in GWG, and the group is tied for 22nd in the NCAA.
Nelles Notes
Pauline Nelles picked up her sixth shutout of the season against Kansas State. She ranks second in ASU history with 18 career shutouts after setting the season record with nine last season.
Nelles made her 200th career save against West Virginia on Sept. 26. She is fourth all-time at ASU with 224 saves and 27 wins.
Looking Ahead
The winner of Wednesday's ASU/Kansas game will face No. 3-seed West Virginia on Saturday at 6 p.m. AZT.