ASU Soccer: Sun Devils host Colorado and Utah in first Pac-12 home games

(Photo: Nicholas Badders/WCSN)

After an impressive 2-1 comeback win against California-Berkeley last week, ASU soccer will return to Tempe to continue its tough Pac-12 schedule against Colorado and Utah this Thursday and Sunday afternoon.

The Sun Devils (6-2 ) have exceeded many people’s expectations already. Just one game into conference play they have accumulated six wins, which is one more than they had all of last season. ASU is currently on a four-game win streak which is the first for the Sun Devils since 2015.

The competition does not get any easier however as they face two opponents this week, the first of which is No. 18 Colorado (9-0-1)

The unbeaten Buffaloes have been impressive this season to say the least.

Colorado began the season unranked in the coaches poll and are now 18th after being bumped up five spots from last week after their 6-0 win against Oregon State.

“They’re always consistently good year to year. Their speed of play is high,” junior midfielder Christina Edwards said Tuesday after practice.

“They’ve got some good attacking threats. They are a talented team and have recruited some great players,” mentioned senior Jemma Purfield.

Colorado’s front three have been exceptional so far this season. Their quality and chemistry have shown with forwards Tatum Barton and Jorian Baucom scoring 18 goals this season for the Buffaloes, many of them being set up by their 6’1 physical attacking midfielder Taylor Kornieck who has nine assists so far this season.

Colorado’s build is something the Sun Devils will certainly have a problem dealing with. The Buffaloes’ average height is significantly taller than ASU’s, which could cause some problems for the Sun Devils in corners and set pieces.

The Buffaloes have scored the second most goals per game and allowed the third fewest goals per game in the nation. The Sun Devils, however, believe they present a completely different challenge for Colorado.

“They are extremely talented but they’ve only played I think just one team that is in the top 100, so it’s very difficult to gauge certain things about them because of the opponents they have played,” head coach Graham Winkworth said.

When asked what advantage does ASU have against Colorado, senior Jemma Purfield had one simple answer, “The style that we play.”

Knowing the physical challenge that Colorado presents, ASU knows it can’t win most of the battles in the air, “We have to keep the ball down, play around them, keep the ball moving and just try to tire them out.” junior midfielder Christina Edwards mentioned after Tuesday’s practice.

It’s going to be a hard fought and possibly high scoring match Thursday, and it certainly won’t be an easy match to put behind in three days as the Sun Devils have to play Utah (3-5-1) on Sunday.

Five different players have scored goals for the Utes so far this season. Dutch senior Paola van der Veen and Utah native Hailey Skolmoski have both scored four goals for Utah this season which leads the team.

The goalkeeping starting position has been a last minute decision for Winkworth so far this season depending on who performs better throughout the squad’s training sessions between senior Sydney Day and sophomore Nikki Panas. This week however, Winkworth has already made his decision based on the match against Cal last week.

“Sydney had a bit of a knock last week which is why Nikki started and at the moment it’s Nikki’s shirt because of a good performance last Saturday.”

Following the two home games this week ASU will travel to Los Angeles which will begin probably the toughest three-game stretch that they will have this season as they will take on No. 2 USC and No. 16 UCLA in California and come back home to Tempe the week after to take on No. 1 Stanford.