Sept. 29, 2006
TEMPE, Ariz. - After dropping its last two matches by the same score, the Arizona State University soccer team got back to its winning ways as the Sun Devils posted a 1-0 defeat of visiting UNLV Friday evening inside Sun Devil Soccer Stadium. The victory, which halted a two-match slide, pushed ASU's record to 5-3-2 overall on the year and sent the Rebels to a mark of 4-5-2.
With both teams playing a tight, controlling match, neither side was able to record many shots in the first half with the Sun Devils taking two and the Rebels one in the first 45 minutes of play. Following the break, each team doubled its output in shots with the Sun Devils securing the only shot that found the back of the net.
Entering the 64th minute of play, the Sun Devils earned a corner kick and sent a ball into the box that was knocked out by the UNLV defense. After settling the ball, Lara Kezer sent a pass back into the box, this time finding a streaking Courtney Crane eight yards away from the net where she redirected the pass into the net for the goal. The score for Crane tied her for the team lead with four this year and also brought her into a tie for ninth on the career goals list with Holly Cohen (1999-01), both of which netted 10.
Defensively, Kim Bingham recorded her fifth shut out of the season despite seeing all three Rebel shots go wide and not recording a save in the match. Bingham moved into a tie for the fourth-most shut outs in a single season and stands third all-time in career shut outs with 14.5.
The Sun Devils return to action Sunday as they play host to the Mexican Women's National Team in a 6 p.m. friendly inside Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.