Junior forward Cali Farquharson leads the team's potent offense with eight goals on the season. (Photo by Kyle Newman)
Everyone knows about ASU football's high-flying offense. With the gaudy point and yardage totals, the praise and attention of coordinator Mike Norvell's unit is well deserved.
But that three-headed monster that is the Sun Devil offensive attack is not the best that ASU's athletic programs have to its credit.
In the early weeks of this fall sports season, that honor goes to the women's soccer team.
Led by junior forward Cali Farquharson and freshman midfielder Aly Moon, the team has started its season as one of the best offenses not only in the conference, but in the nation.
After nine games, ASU has scored 27 goals, which already eclipses last year's total of 26 accumulated over 19 games.
Coach Kevin Boyd's squad has outscored every other team in the Pac-12 thus far, and averaged three goals per game, half a goal more than the next best team in the conference.
That tally was helped by a 10-goal weekend in mid-September, which featured back-to-back 5-0 wins against New Mexico State University and Nevada.
Although it grades out as a below-average defensive team, ASU leads the Pac-12 in almost all major offensive categories, including shots, points, goals, goals per game and assists.
The Sun Devils trail conference-leader UCLA in assists per game and even then by just a fraction.
The team's three goal per game average is 13th in the nation.
The Sun Devils are averaging eight points per game (counting goals and assists), making them the 17th best in the country.
Only six players in the entire country have scored more goals than Farquharson, who has eight on the season, and Moon is right behind her with seven goals of her own.
Ten players have scored so far for the Sun Devils, and of those 10, five have scored more than once.
Let's be clear, ASU has plenty of talented offenses across all the sports in action this fall but at this point, there is no denying that the goal-scoring machine that is the women's soccer team has been the school's best.
Reach the sports editor at icbeck@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @ICBeck21
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow them on Twitter @statepresssport
