Buried by a six-game losing streak and the absence of top forwards Cali Farquharson and Aly Moon, ASU soccer's 2015 season has reached its low point as the team enters the weekend at 4-6; 0-3 in the Pac-12.
But all that has the potential to change this coming weekend as Farquharson and Moon are set to make their returns.
Moon suffered a blow to the head in ASU's last match against California, and Farquharson has missed the last 4 1/2 games due to a hamstring injury. Both will play on Friday.
ASU head coach Kevin Boyd said he was fearful for Moon's health following the scary collision in the second half on Sunday.
"I was concerned for her safety given what happened there," Boyd said. "We didn't like how that (play) went, so I thought we played well in that second half as a whole."
The Sun Devils outshot the Golden Bears in the second half, but still came up short.
Farquharson's absence has been one of the biggest factors in this losing streak, and Boyd said she is up and going for this weekend's slate of games in southern California.
Boyd said that a change of scenery will be good for his struggling team.
"I'm glad we're going away," Boyd said. "I think we need a different atmosphere entirely in terms of where we are in our season."
The first stop for the Sun Devils will be USC (7-4-1), a team that had a six-game winning streak before falling to No. 19 Washington.
The Trojans are led in goals by sophomore and junior midfielders Sydney Johnson and Morgan Andrews, respectively, who combined scored seven of USC's 14 goals in 2015.
As far as sharing the ball is concerned, two players are tied for the team lead in assist with three apiece: sophomore midfielder Nicole Molen and junior defender Mandy Freeman.
Next on the docket for ASU will be UCLA (5-6). The Bruins are riding a two-game losing streak against Washington teams after two 1-0 home victories over Pepperdine and Oregon.
UCLA's star forwards are junior Darian Jenkins and senior Taylor Smith. Together Jenkins and Smith have scored five goals and notched two assists, but the Bruins have received contributions across the board from a deep, veteran lineup.
UCLA, much like ASU, is a second half team, with nine of its 12 scores coming in the second 45 minutes.
ASU comes into the weekend with two remaining home matches and six remaining road games on the schedule in 2015. The Sun Devils' performance on the road against two California schools will be a likely indicator of whether or not they will make it to the postseason.
USC vs. ASU kicks off at 3 p.m. on Friday, while UCLA vs. ASU kicks off at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Both games will be broadcasted locally on the Pac-12 Network.
Related:
ASU soccer loses Aly Moon to injury and its sixth straight game in 1-0 loss to California
ASU soccer drops fifth straight game with 2-0 loss to Stanford
Reach the reporter at rclarke6@asu.edu or follow @RClarkeASU on Twitter.
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