The defending NCAA national champions, Stanford Cardinal soccer (12-0-1), are preparing to make their appearance at Sun Devil Stadium on Saturday, but the ASU soccer team (6-5-1) plans on not giving in to a high-caliber opponent.
“We are going to come out guns blazing,” senior forward Casey Martinez said. “Our team has something special, and I think that we can beat this team ... as long as our whole team believes it, which I know that our coach does and I know that each player does, I think we can do anything."
Stanford is also currently ranked No. 1 by the NCAA, and competing against the top team in the nation can be daunting. However, Martinez said that the team is less focused on winning and more focused on how they play.
“It does not matter what the result is as long as we have our hearts in it,” Martinez said. “We fight with all that we have for every single minute of the game, whether it's 90 minutes or it goes into double overtime.”
Stanford will come into Saturday’s match nearly perfect, with a current program-record of 35 straight wins since Aug. 25, 2017. They also haven't lost to the Sun Devils since 2013.
This season, the Cardinal have earned eight shutouts, and they lead the Pac-12 with a 5-0 conference record for a total of 15 points.
In contrast, the Sun Devils hit a bump in the road after suffering a pair of 3-1 losses to No. 15 UCLA and No. 2 USC last week.
Despite that, the maroon and gold spirit has managed to stay strong with the help of head coach Graham Winkworth's coaching style through a roller coaster season.
“No. 1 — they are special," Winkworth said. "But that’s why we all chose to come to ASU, because we want to play against the best teams in the country.”
However, the Sun Devils will relieve some stress this weekend with the return of freshman forward Nicole Douglas after playing overseas with the England Under 19 Women's National Team.
Douglas will look to continue where she left off as she leads the team with six goals.
“I’m even more hungry to get back on the pitch and score hopefully more goals for the team,” Douglas said.
ASU's match against Stanford is set for Saturday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. MST.
Reach the reporter at Edith.Noriega@asu.edu or follow @Noriega_Edith on Twitter.
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