ASU Soccer: Who will be the starting goalkeeper?

We begin our 2017 season preview of ASU soccer by looking at the goalkeepers as there is heavy competition for the starting job.

ASU soccer’s struggles are well known as they finished with a 6-11-2 record, which included a 1-9-1 Pac-12 record, finishing last in the conference leading to the resignation of head coach Kevin Boyd.

Graham Winkworth takes over as the new head coach after spending four seasons at South Alabama leading the Jaguars to four straight Sun Belt championships.

A big part of the struggles last season was their defense as they conceded the second-most goals in the Pac-12 allowing 28, one fewer than Washington and Oregon State who conceded 29 goals.

Arizona State goalkeepers also finished tied for the fewest clean sheets with only four.

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In all fairness, Arizona State faced a lot of injuries last season in front of them and the goalkeepers they started for the majority of last season didn’t have much experience playing at Arizona State.

Redshirt seniors Megan Delaney and Ashley March are battling it out for the starting position.

Delaney led the Sun Devils with 10 starts last season sporting a record of 3-6-1, a goals against average of 1.32 and a 0.780 save percentage.

As a junior, her GAA was good for 10th in the Pac-12 and her save percentage placed sixth in the conference.

While the record is below .500, those numbers show that with her expected development and now having a year under her belt, Delaney should improve this season.

Competing with Delaney is the senior March, who only played one match last season.

On Senior Day versus the eventual Pac-12 champions Stanford, March conceded two goals on 12 shots as senior forward Andi Sullivan scored both goals , with one coming on a penalty kick.

Another goalkeeper who appears to be on the outside looking in is junior Sydney Day, who missed the majority of last season with an injury.

Arizona State is coming off an exhibition win Saturday vs. Cal State Northridge where the Sun Devils scored an early goal and held on for the 1-0 victory.

In the match, Delaney and March played 45 minutes with Delaney not facing a shot in the first half while March saved all three shots faced from the Matadors in the second half.

Day only played 20 minutes recording one save as the Matadors recorded two shots in overtime.

Next: ASU Soccer: Sun Devils picked to finish 11th in Pac-12 Preseason Poll

With the Sun Devils beginning the season versus Ohio State Friday followed by an exhibition match versus Beijing Normal University Sunday, you could see some tinkering in who starts in goal, but all signs point to Delaney getting the nod for the Sun Devils.