Junior forward Devin Marshall (4) takes the ball downfield during the Sun Devils’ 1-0 upset over Pepperdine on Sept. 9. (Photo by Kyle Newman)Stanford is currently ranked third in the nation and is fresh off winning last year's national championship in soccer.
None of it though matters to ASU coach Kevin Boyd, whose team is playing its best soccer of the season after winning its past three matches.
“We need to be really aware of not playing the uniform and just go out there and play the game,” Boyd said.
The match opens Pac-12 play for the Sun Devils (4-4-1), and Boyd is trying to size up the Cardinal (6-1-1) before Sunday afternoon.
“Right now, we are trying to get the team an idea of what we are going to face this weekend, and prepare (the team) against a very good opponent,” Boyd said.
Stanford boasts the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week in junior goalkeeper Aly Gleason, who posted shutouts over then-No. 15 San Diego State and UNC Greensboro last weekend.
Gleason has posted four straight shutouts and has a 0.59 goals-against-average this season to her credit, but Boyd is confident his team can score against the junior.
“I'm not worried about their goalkeeper,” Boyd said. “There are a lot of good goalkeepers out there, but finishing is finishing and if we put it where it belongs, it doesn't matter who is in goal.”
Offensively, Stanford is led by a three goal scorers — junior forwards Natalie Griffin and Sydney Payne and senior midfielder Mariah Nogueira.
Redshirt junior defender Courtney Verloo has also added six assists for the Cardinal, who have outscored opponents 22-5 so far this season.
Regardless of the Cardinal's impressive statistics, Boyd is focusing on what his Sun Devil squad needs to do to pull out a victory.
“If we do certain things well, we will play great against them and I want the team to understand that,” Boyd said. “We are going to continue to improve on the same areas we've been working on (defense and attacking midfielders), but Stanford is going to present us with something slightly different than what we have seen and we have to be ready for that and adjust on the fly.”
Junior forward Devin Marshall, the Sun Devils' top scorer, is excited for the challenge a team like Stanford presents, but isn't intimidated by the Cardinal.
“When I go into a game, I don't look at who we are playing,” Marshall said. “It doesn't really affect my goal-a-game mentality. I'm just going to go out and play the way I've been playing and hopefully that will get me another goal.”
Stanford leads the all-time series 9-8-3 and won 3-1 last year in Tempe, and Marshall understands how pivotal a win would be for the Sun Devils moving forward into Pac-12 play.
“It would absolutely boost our confidence,” Marshall said. “Like Coach Boyd says, there is no big game, but being able to win against a national champion is always a good thing.”
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu
