No. 22 ASU soccer will head down to Tucson to play a pair of ranked opponents in No. 14 Pepperdine and No. 18 Texas Tech in the Arizona Cats Classic — its first true test of the season.
ASU has been the overwhelming favorite in each of its first three games of the 2015 campaign but as the Sun Devils head into this upcoming weekend, things don't look as clear coming off a 2-0 win over Stephen F. Austin last Friday.
"We knew we were good coming in to the season," head coach Kevin Boyd said. "When you return a lot of starters that we did we knew we were going to be organized right off of the bat."
Senior Cali Farquharson has three goals and two assists on the year while sophomore Aly Moon has three goals to her credit as well.
The defense hasn't allowed a goal and the offense has scored 11 goals in just three games. ASU has outshot its opponents this season 76-14.
The Sun Devils' focus is on Pepperdine and Texas Tech, two teams which are both ranked in the top 25 of the coaches poll. Boyd is excited for the challenge.
"We absolutely need that test right now," Boyd said. "Not only have we been overwhelming favorites, we've absolutely dominated everyone we've played. We need somebody good to really test us."
Pepperdine will be ASU's first test on Friday afternoon. Pepperdine is 4-1-1 and is coming off of a 2-2 draw against No. 1 Virginia.
Pepperdine had a chance to beat Virginia when sophomore Bri Visalli scored a goal in the 81st minute to put the Waves ahead 2-1, but Virginia answered equalizer in the 85th minute to tie it back up.
The Waves have had success against teams in the top 25, beating then-No.13 Wisconsin 2-0 on Aug. 28.
Visalli won West Coast Conference Player of the Week after scoring two goals in two games. This is the second straight week she has won the award.
Pepperdine has outscored its opponents 9-3 in the first six games of the season.
ASU's Sunday opponent, Texas Tech, has outscored their opponents 7-2, with their only loss coming against USC.
The Red Raiders (3-1-1) are coming off of a scoreless tie against Minnesota in a game that went two overtimes without a goal.
Texas Tech has won the previous two meetings against ASU. In their first matchup back in 2011, ASU was defeated 5-0 with all five goals coming in the second.
"This is going to be a true test for us," Farquharson said. "Pepperdine's ranked, Texas Tech is ranked but we don't really want to focus on that. We just want to see how well we can do."
Boyd said that a key thing that can determine the fate of this season is how they handle "roadblocks." He said what his team does once they hit their first road block will be very important.
The roadblock can either stop his team or detour his team and Boyd hopes that it will be the latter.
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