Nicole Douglas kissed her wrist, before looking to the sky and raising a single hand. Shortly after, she scored again, raising two hands this time.
It was a tribute to her grandmother, who had passed suddenly just two months prior.
“This season is basically for her,” Douglas said after the match. “Every single goal that I score, every win for the team is dedicated for her. I miss her so much, and I’m just so happy I can make her proud.”
All in all, there was a lot to be proud of, as Arizona State stormed to a season-opening 6-1 victory over the University of Central Arkansas.
But it was a slow, sloppy start for the Sun Devils, who conceded just six minutes in after a defensive error allowed Emma Hawkins to give the visitors a lead.
ASU replied quickly, though, with Olivia Nguyen’s first of the season levelling the scores just a minute later.
After that is when Douglas took center stage, breaking into the penalty area and swivelling around defenders to give Arizona State the lead, before doubling the advantage five minutes later.
“It boosts my confidence a lot,” Douglas said of her first-half brace. “To help the team, as well, is amazing, to start off the way we did. But individually, my goals are so high as I’ve said before. Yeah, it’s a good way to start off with a brace, but just keep on going up for me and the team, really.”
There was time for just one more goal in the second half, with Jayda Hylton-Pelaia’s effort fumbled into the net by the visiting goalkeeper, although it wasn’t clear initially if the intent from the Sun Devil was to either shoot or to cross.
“It kind of ended up as both, but I’m happy with the result so I’ll take it,” Hylton-Pelaia said. “A goal’s a goal.”
From there, ASU cruised to control of the match. Additional goals from Eva van Deursen and Cori Sullivan served only to further extend the margin of victory.
Despite the straightforward result, ASU coach Graham Winkworth still saw room for improvement in his side’s performance.
“Sometimes I think we were a little bit impatient with our attacking play,” Winkworth said. “We were going to goal when we should have pulled the ball back and switched the point a little bit. So, there’s always something we can learn from it. I think set pieces are another thing that I don’t think we were particularly strong on, so that’s another area we’ve got to work on before the next one.”
ASU next faces Southeastern Lousiana on Sunday.