With its home schedule complete and a record of seven wins, seven losses and one draw, ASU soccer heads into a final road trip with high expectations.
The Sun Devils have star forward Cali Farquharson back in full form, and they are aiming for six consecutive wins to close out the 2015 season. With three victories over Washington, Oregon State and Oregon, that goal seems well within reach.
Standing in the way of the Sun Devils, before they make the trek to Tucson, are the Utah Utes (5-9-3) and the Colorado Buffaloes (7-8-2).
The first stop on ASU's mountain state expedition will be Salt Lake City, where the Sun Devils will face a Utes team with the second-worst overall record in the conference.
Utah is led in points by sophomore forward Natalie Vukic, who has amassed three goals and three assists this season. As a freshman, Vukic played in every match and started all but one, according to Utah Athletics.
The Utes have a tendency to collapse in the later stages of the game. They allowed 14 of their opponents' 23 goals this season in the second half. The Sun Devils will likely try to exploit that weakness now that its most valuable player is back, healthy and in the lineup.
Given that its top four contributors in points and shot attempts are all juniors or younger, Utah is a young and inexperienced squad with only six seniors on the roster. Redshirt senior goalkeeper Lindsey Luke, however, holds down the fort beneath the crossbar.
Colorado, inversely, is a defensively sound team without a good starting goalkeeper.
Junior forwards Brie Hooks and Danica Evans are key cogs in a front line that has been stellar all season for the Buffaloes, stomping their way to a combined eight goals and eight assists.
Keeping with the Halloween spirit, there has been a sort of Jekyll and Hyde appearance to this Colorado team as it hovers just below .500. Right now, possessing a four-game losing streak, it's been a lot more Hyde than Jekyll in recent weeks.
ASU has been in that frame of mind before (especially during its seven-game skid), and now that Colorado is getting key players back from injury it could very well be on the same upward trajectory.
It just takes one moment to turn a season around and climb out of the depths of adversity, and for the Sun Devils that moment came on Oct. 15 thanks to Whitney Kanavel's golden goal in double overtime that sealed ASU's first win since Sept. 11.
In order to have a chance to make the NCAA tournament, the Sun Devils need to make sure they don't end up on the other side of that upset situation.
Kickoff for ASU versus Utah is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday and the Sun Devils will take on Colorado at 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Related Links:
ASU soccer squeaks by Oregon for third straight victory on senior day
ASU soccer blanks Oregon State for second consecutive victory
Reach the reporter at rclarke6@asu.edu or follow @RClarkeASU on Twitter.
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