After an up-and-down start to the season, the ASU soccer team will move into the Pac-10 portion of the schedule when it hosts Oregon State today at the Sun Devil Soccer Stadium at 7 p.m.
ASU (5-4-2) will be looking for some consistency in the upcoming conference games, as the Pac-10 is one of the toughest conferences in women's soccer.
The Pac-10 currently has three teams ranked in the top 25 and it has posted a 61-31-12 (.644) record against out-of-conference teams so far this season.
"The Pac-10 is the best soccer conference in the country," ASU coach Ray Leone said.
Oregon State (7-3-0) has gotten off to a surprising start this season, including a victory over No. 8 Wake Forest last month.
"With our first 10 games, we've put ourselves into a good position heading into Pac-10 play," Oregon State coach Steve Fennah said in a statement. "What counts is what we do in the next few weeks."
The Beavers had an interesting weekend last week when they were scheduled to play at Portland State on Friday. Due to a major traffic accident, they were unable to make it to Portland in time and will have to play the game at a later date.
However, in the second game of the weekend, Oregon State came out and gave No. 3 Portland a scare, taking the undefeated team to overtime before falling 2-1 in double overtime.
Leone sees the Beavers as very tough opponents to face in starting conference play.
"Oregon State is playing well and had a very solid result against Portland," Leone said. "They are experienced and a tough opponent."
ASU is currently 1-1-1 through the first three games of a five-game home stand. In its last time out, ASU tied San Diego 2-2 after playing through double overtime.
"Starting the Pac-10 season at home just saves us the time of traveling that first weekend," Leone said. "It helps get our academics in order before we go through the Pac-10 grind."
Tonight's game will feature two of the best offensive players in the Pac-10 when ASU senior forward Liz Bogus and Oregon State sophomore forward Jodie Taylor take the field together.
Bogus has eight goals on the season while Taylor has seven, putting them third and fourth respectively on the conference leader board.
The Sun Devils will close out the weekend Sunday against Oregon. The game will round out the home stand for ASU and starts at noon.
Reach the reporter at thomas.j.kelley@asu.edu.
