TEMPE, Ariz. -- For 11 months, senior midfielder Lara Barbieri trained for an anticipated season without seeing her Sun Devil Soccer teammates in-person. In March 2020 she left Tempe for a quick trip home to wait out COVID-19, but that rapidly turned into a pilgrimage to reach the United States for her senior season amidst pandemic-enforced border closures and mandatory weeks-long quarantines.
Despite every possible obstacle and a mass of land separating her two homes, Barbieri landed state-side to cheer on the team during the home opener last week. The journey back to ASU wasn't easy and required a 15-day trek from her hometown of São Paulo, Brazil, to Cancun, Mexico, and eventually, Tempe, to join the team for the 2021 season.