ASU vs. WSU Preview

(Photo: Steve Rodriguez/ ASU Athletics)

After salvaging a draw to the second place Washington Huskies Friday night in Tempe, the Arizona State women’s soccer team will continue its four game home stand on Sunday against Washington State.

The Sun Devils are currently in seventh place in the Pac-12 with a 3-3-1 conference record and an 8-6-1 overall record.

Despite outshooting the Huskies 26-10, the Sun Devils offensive woes continued, as they have now gone eight straight games without scoring more than one goal—the last time being a 4-0 rout of Utah St. on September 15^th.

Leading scorer Cali Farquharson (9 goals on the year) has also been stifled, as she has not scored in the last eight games as well.

Unfortunately for the Sun Devils, an offensive revival may not be approaching any time soon. They will take on a Washington State team that recently tied the school record for shutouts in a single season with eleven.

Like the Sun Devils, Washington State is also 3-3-1 in the conference, and in seventh place with ten points. The Cougars boast the conference’s leading point getter and goal scorer in Micaela Castain. After losing consecutive games for the first time all season, Washington State is coming off a resounding 4-0 win over Arizona.

The Sun Devils are seeking to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth time in five years under Coach Kevin Boyd. After playing one of the most brutal stretches of road matchups in the nation, the remainder of Arizona State’s schedule appears to be conducive towards a tournament run. Four of their last five games are at home—a place where the Sun Devils thrive. Also, four of their last five matchups are against teams with only a slightly better RPI ranking, meaning reasonably winnable matchups that would still be considered “quality wins.” However, with the end of the season fast-approaching, every remaining game is becoming a must-win.

Tune into the PAC-12 Network for a live stream of Sunday’s game.

You can reach Jacob Garcia on Twitter @jake3garcia or via email at Jacob.M.Garcia@asu.edu