The weekend slate will serve as an important weekend for the Sun Devils who will embark on a grueling Pac-12 schedule beginning next weekend.
"Friday is going to be a tough game up at NAU," Head coach Graham Winkworth said of the upcoming contest. "They are another well coached team. We are an in-state rival so they will be all sorts of fired up. It is a smaller soccer field so we have got to be prepared to move the ball quickly. I don't anticipate us having too much time on the ball on such a small field. These are the types of challenges we like to embrace. When we start league play we will have to play in these types of games and we have got to be ready for that. This will be another opportunity to test our team on the road before coming home to play in the heat. We hope to give both of these teams a good game."
The Sun Devils will head to Northern Arizona with a good deal of confidence after the team rebounded nicely for a 2-0 win at South Dakota State Monday evening. In the contest, senior keeper Sydney Day anchored an ASU defense that recorded their second clean sheet of the season, while only having to make two saves.
"It was a huge win for us," Winkworth said of Monday's victory. "We knew the game at South Dakota State was never going to be easy. That was a team that was 11-1-1 in their last 13 home matches and you could really see why. It was a very tough place to play, and they are a very talented and well coached team. The field was a little bit slower than what we are used to, but our team adapted well. It is always tough to win on the road, so it was great to get that momentum heading into this week."
The win came on the heels of another stellar defensive effort that saw ASU come up just short in a neutral site contest against 2017 Elite Eight competitor, Baylor, Friday in Tucson. Despite holding the Bears to just four second-half shots in the match, a critical free kick, set up by a contentious foul call just outside the 18' yard box, led to the game's only goal.
"Defensively we had a great weekend," Winkworth said. "If it wasn't for a free kick that was given at the end of the game, we may have had two clean sheets this week. To defend that well against Baylor and then continue it against South Dakota State was something we are really proud of. We have still got some areas to clean up, I think we are allowing too many crosses, but outside of that I think we are defending pretty well."
In Monday's outing, Arizona State got the offense back on track, scoring a goal in each half of the contest. Freshman Alexia Delgado netted the game's first goal in the 21st minute of the match, and was backed up by a goal from fellow freshman Nicole Douglas to seal the 2-0 ASU win.
With the two goals Monday, nine of Arizona State's 10 goals this season have come from freshman players, while senior transfer Casey Martinez accounted for the 10th. Douglas, who leads the Sun Devils with four goals. Having only played a combined 283 minutes, Douglas has torched opposing defenses, leading to a goal every 70 minutes of playing time this season.
"Dougie (Nicole Douglas) was brought here to score goals," Winworth said of his freshman's scoring display. "Her averaging a goal every 70 minutes is massive. She is going to face some new challenges when we get into league play as well. She is a great player, great finisher who has been able to create some of those chances for herself. For me it is her work rate defensively that impresses me the most. She continues to press opposing defenses and not give them any time on the ball. That kind of play creates chances for her and her teammates."
This weekend's matches will serve as a stiff test for the Sun Devil offense as the two weekend opponents both pride themselves on their oppressive defenses. NAU enters the Friday matchup tied for second in the Big Sky Conference in goals allowed per game, trailing only Weber State, the Sun Devils' Sunday opponent, in that category.
Following the two games this weekend, Arizona State will begin Pac-12 play in what is shaping up to be one of the most difficult conference schedules in the country. Leading into this weekend, four Pac-12 teams are ranked in the top-25 of the United Soccer Coaches Poll for the fifth week in a row. With Stanford holding firm at No. 1 for the fifth-straight week and USC jumping up to No. 3, the Pac-12 is the only conference in the nation to have two teams ranked in the top-five every week this season. UCLA is not far behind at No. 8 and Washington State moved into the 16th spot.
Fans can follow all of the action from the 2018 Sun Devil Soccer Season by following @SunDevilSoccer on Twitter and Instagram.