(Photo: Matt Harden/WCSN)
Sun Devil Soccer will face off against Oregon State Friday night, in the first game of their last home weekend series.
Arizona State is coming into the match with some extra steam after a double-overtime win against Washington last week. This was Washington’s first home loss of the season and was the Sun Devils first win after an eight-game losing streak.
Now that the Sun Devils have put an injury-laden mid-season behind them, they will be looking to get back to .500.
Last week the Oregon State Beavers won against UCLA 2-1, this was Oregon State’s first win against the Bruins since 2010 and put the Beavers at 2-4-0 Pac-12. The Beavers are currently 3-7-0 at the Sun Devil Soccer Stadium.
Oregon State has a young team with 19 of 26 players being freshmen or sophomores. In fact, the Beavers’ underclassmen are some of their most effective players on the field. Sophomore Emma Jones leads the team in total points and freshman Allison Pantuso has scored the most goals, bringing her to second in total points for the Beavers. Another young Beaver to watch out for is sophomore forward Nikki Faris. Faris is third on the team’s total points list and scored the first goal to help OSU beat UCLA last weekend.
It’s senior night this Friday and nine Sun Devil seniors will be honored during the game. Several seniors have a chance to leave Sun Devil Soccer Stadium in memorable fashion. With a shutout in Friday’s game, goalkeeper Chandler Morris will break the school’s record for career shutouts. Since returning to the lineup after a leg injury, Cali Farquharson has been on a tear, helping Arizona State break its losing streak with one tie and a win. Kanavel is also on a hot streak and took the winning penalty kick to help ASU beat Washington. Look for more scoring from both Farquarson and Kanavel on Friday.
The biggest challenge for Arizona State throughout the 2015 season has been the team’s struggle to finish in the 18-yard box. In game after game the Sun Devils have left quality chances unfinished. In the last game, even star forward Farquharson had an uncharacteristically hard time getting her shots into the back of the net.
The Sun Devils will look to fix those struggles on Friday at 7 p.m. and then again on Sunday at 11 a.m. against Oregon.
