(Photo: ASU Athletics)
Arizona State will travel to Boulder, Colo. Friday afternoon to face the Buffaloes in a critical Pac-12 match up.
ASU is currently ranked ninth in the Pac-12 while Colorado is tied for seventh. This will be the last conference road trip for the Sun Devils.
Both teams have been struggling to produce wins as of late. ASU is coming off of a weekend of back to back losses while Colorado is coming off of two losses and a tie. This will impact the match up significantly as neither team has momentum to run off of.
Colorado has scored a total of 24 goals as a team so far this season and Arizona State has scored 33. Both teams clearly have the ability to put the ball in the back of the net, so the team that gets up early will most likely take the game.
Arizona State’s defense, which has been stout all season, will need to be as good as ever to give their offense a chance to regain the momentum that it carried early on in the season.
The Sun Devils offensive unit is something that the Buffs will need to be prepared for, as it is statistically much more explosive than their own. ASU junior forward Cali Farquharson has scored 12 goals this season and freshman scored Aly Moon has scored eight of her own.
Sophomore Brie Hooks,the top scorer for Colorado, has scored six goals this season. While this is no easy feat, it is not on the level of Farquharson and Moon. Hooks, along with the rest of the Buffs offense, will need to be on top of their game to compete against these big name Sun Devil forwards, as well as, their solid defense.
Of the three times Arizona and Colorado have faced off in this conference, the Sun Devils have taken two, and the Buffs one. All three matches have been low scoring and fiercely competitive from start to finish.
ASU will head into this game with something to prove, while Colorado looks to keep its upper hand in the rankings.
You can reach Michelle Minahen on Twitter @Meechmina or via email at mminahen@asu.edu
