(Photo: Trey Lanthier/WCSN)
Pac-12 conference play is around the corner and the competition is already looking extremely difficult.
Five Pac-12 teams are nationally ranked in the top 25 by the NSCAA, and two of those teams – No. 1 UCLA and No. 4 Stanford – are in the top five. In addition, five conference players are part of the U-23 US Women’s National Team, and 6 more have been placed on the watch list for the MAC Hermann trophy.
A big part of this success is due to the discipline that these teams have shown defensively.
Every Pac-12 team, with the exception of Oregon State, has at least 3 shutouts in non-conference play.
Stanford, currently 8-0-1, is the only team in the country yet to concede a goal. Not surprisingly, Cardinal goalkeeper Jane Campbell is the only keeper thus far to be named the Pac-12’s goalkeeper of the week twice this season.
UCLA follows close behind Stanford defensively with 7 shutouts, and a .138 goals-against average.
The Bruins are also tied with Stanford for the most players named to the Pac-12’s defensive player of the week. Two players from both teams have been given the award, which has currently only been given five times this season.
Colorado has also shown a strong ability to defend their goal, allowing only 4 goals in their past 9 games.
Elsewhere in the conference No. 14 had its longest undefeated start to a season this year. The Trojans were 6-0-2 before losing to No. 12 Pepperdine Sunday night.
Washington State and Utah still remain undefeated. Both teams are in the top 15 in the country for goals-against with averages of .268 and .402 respectively.
Similarly, Arizona State, California, and Arizona have all lost only one game and have 13 shutouts between the three of them.
The only teams that seem to be struggling are Oregon State who is 0-6-3 and Washington.
The Beavers have let in 13 goals so far and have only managed to put up two themselves.
Washington hasn’t been losing a lot, but it hasn’t been defending well either. Other than Oregon State, Washington (6-2-0) is the only team with a goals-against average above a 1.0. Unless they can keep scoring goals, the Huskies are in for a tough time in the conference.
This is especially true because the Pac-12 has some of the toughest offensive teams in the nation so far.
USC leads the Pac-12 and is ninth in the country for most goals scored with 28 goals overall. The Trojans, who average 3.5 goals a game, will surely be one to keep the conference’s defense honest.
Arizona State has also proven that it can and will find the back of the net, given the smallest opportunity. They are ranked 13th in the country for most goals scored.
ASU junior forward Cali Farquharson leads the Pac-12 with eight goals followed by freshman forward Aly Moon, who has seven goals. Both girls have been named the Pac-12’s offensive player of the week this season.
Also given the same honor, Arizona freshman Gabi Stolan has seven goals to her name. Those may have been the only seven goals that Arizona has scored, but they were enough to land it 47th in the nation for most goals scored. Still, the Wildcats will need another player to step up if they want to get anywhere in the conference this season.
UCLA and California are also among the top 50 goal scoring teams in the country with 19 and 23 goals respectively.
For ASU specifically, it struggled in conference play last season. The Sun Devils finished seventh in the Pac-12, and although they upset then-No. 2 Stanford they failed to reach the playoffs.
This year looks like it might change that. ASU is off to one of its best starts in a long time, and they seem to have fixed many of the problems they had last season. Most notably, they are scoring early and often.
Pac-12 play starts Thursday as Oregon hosts Washington. ASU will have a chance to kick off its conference season with a huge upset, as it hosts the top ranked Bruins on Friday at 4 p.m.
