Sun Devil soccer head coach Kevin Boyd gives his thoughts on the Sun Devil soccer team's exhibition game vs. Northern Arizona, which took place on Friday night in Prescott Valley, Arizona. The Sun Devils open regular season play next Friday (Aug. 21 at 7 p.m.) when they host Portland State. Click here for ticket information.

“It was fun playing here in Prescott. I really appreciate Yavapai and Coach Pantalione for letting us do this.

“I liked that we played three 30-minute periods. It allowed us to take a look at a lot of different things, which is what we needed to at this point. In the first period we played what we think will be our starting lineup and our first rotation. In the second 30-minute period we looked at a completely different system and the third 30-minute period we got everyone playing time and really got our freshmen's feet wet and allowed them to maybe play through some nerves of a first game, which I thought was really good from that standpoint.

“There were moments when we played very well and then there were some moments when we could see what we have to work on. I think the video will help us show them some things we have been talking about. I was thrilled that some of the things that we specifically worked on in training showed up. When that happened we had some success and it allowed them to see that when we do these things they work.

“I thought the energy was great from both teams. I thought NAU played very good soccer. In fact, I thought it was some of the best soccer that I have seen from their team.

“We could not have asked for a better scrimmage tonight and now we go on our bonding weekend and we stay up here and we camp, which our team loves to do – making meals, and campfire talks and other things that we do and so we are really looking forward to the weekend.”