Oct. 6, 2002
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Arizona State (7-1-2) women's soccer team defeated intrastate rival Northern Arizona (4-7-0) by a score of 4-1 on Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 598 at the Sun Devil Soccer Stadium. The Devils got things going early when, not even three minutes into the game, Brittany Cooper gave ASU a 1-0 lead. Elizabeth Bogus beat a defender down the left side and sent in a low cross to Cooper who was making a run into the penalty area from right wing. Under pressure from a defender, Cooper finished the cross with a one-time shot into the corner past NAU goalie Andrea Berra.
The Sun Devils had most of the play in the first half-they outshot the Lumberjacks 10-4 in the opening period- until Sierra Cristiano leveled the game at one apiece with ten minutes to go. A scramble after a corner kick caused the ball to fall to Cristiano who hit a volley off the underside of the crossbar and into the net past ASU goalie Kelly Fitzgerald. This was the first goal that Arizona State had given up in five matches, since September 8 against SMU, a span of 484 minutes.
Arizona State really got things going in the second half where they scored three goals, the most goals that the team had scored in an entire game this season. Manya Makoski scored the first of her two goals on a breakaway seven minutes after the break. She found herself one-on-one with Berra and touched it around her and slid it into the empty net. Twelve minutes later, Amy LePeilbet scored the second goal of her ASU career off of a corner kick from Kelley Bond. Bond sent in the corner from the right and LePeilbet, forward from her defensive position, rose above the NAU defense to head in a goal and give the Devils a 3-1 lead.
Makoski scored her second goal of the match, and third of the season, fifteen minutes from the final whistle. She started the move from the right side of the penalty area, beat two defenders as she moved towards the goal and fired a shot past Berra for the final goal of the afternoon. LePeilbet was the only non-freshman to get a point for the Sun Devils on the afternoon.
Berra made six saves for the Lumberjacks to Fitzgerald's seven for the Sun Devils. Northern Arizona committed fourteen fouls to ASU's five.
Arizona State continues their four-game home stand next Friday against their other intrastate rival, The University of Arizona. That game is scheduled to kick off at 7:00 p.m.