Stanford women’s soccer (5-3-1, 4-1-0 Pac-12), will travel east to face Arizona (6-4, 1-4 Pac-12) on Friday. The Cardinal team is coming off an overtime tie against Oregon on Sunday and is hoping to add another win to its tally. 

In last year’s fixture, Stanford beat Arizona 6-2 with five goals for the Cardinal in the first half alone. However, defensively, the Wildcats could pose a challenge to Stanford this season. Scoring twice last season, Arizona was able to infiltrate a seasoned Stanford defense, shutting down its shutout streak at 832:03 minutes. 

Arizona is not lacking in its ability to score, beating teams such as Oregon State 3-1. Even in its defeats, Arizona was able to pull off a goal against UCLA, arguably the highest-performing team in the Pac-12 this season. 

With a current Stanford team that is struggling to finish off opportunities, this could be an issue. If Stanford faults on the back line and allows goals early on in this game, it could struggle to come back. The Cardinal will need to put up a strong defense to hold off the Wildcats. 

Stanford showed this defensive resilience against Oregon last Sunday, not allowing a goal in a total of 110 minutes and giving fans hope for Friday’s matchup.

On the offensive side, fans can be hopeful after a 3-1 victory over Oregon State that demonstrated the finishing abilities of sophomore midfielder Maya Doms, senior defender/midfielder Kiki Pickett and freshman midfielder Astrid Wheeler. 

Stanford will face Arizona at 8 p.m. PT, and the action can be watched on the Pac-12 Network.