Washington State Soccer Returns Home

THIS WEEK

Washington State (7-1-2, 2-1-0 Pac-12) plays its first Pac-12 Conference matches at home this season when it host Arizona and Arizona State…Cougars entertain Wildcats (8-2-1, 2-1-0 Pac-12) at 2 p.m., Friday and Sun Devils (8-1-3, 1-0-2 Pac-12, plays at Washington, Friday) at 1 p.m., Sunday…both matches will have live stats available on wsucougars.com…Cougars and Wildcats will be televised by the Pac-12 networks with JB Long (play-by-play) and Christopher Sullivan (analyst) calling the action…Cougars and Sun Devils will be on a webcast available on wsucougars.com with Trevor Williams (play-by-play) and Rachael Doyle (analyst) describing the match.

LAST WEEK

Washington State knocked off No. 9 California 1-0 on Chelsea Harkins’s first-career goal…first victory for Cougars in Berkeley since 2001…lost at No. 3 Stanford 1-0 when the Cardinal scored in the 84th minute.

WASHINGTON STATE HEAD COACH STEVE NUGENT

Cougar Head Coach Steve Nugent is in his first year at Washington State, and his fourth year overall as a head coach...owns 7-1-2 record with the Cougars and 37-24-8 overall…Nugent was the mentor at UNC Greensboro from 2011-13.

SETTING RECORDS

With its 1-0 victory at California, Oct. 3, Washington State tied, set or extended several records…Cougars set school record unbeaten streak at 15…extended school-record unbeaten streak on the road to 10 (9-0-1)…equaled best start through nine matches (set last season) at 7-0-2…Washington State tied a school record (set in 2009) with its fifth-straight road win…won a school-record sixth-consecutive Pac-12 road match…won a school-record seventh-straight Pac-12 match overall.

STINGY DEFENSE

Washington State recorded a school-record seven-consecutive clean sheets, (last three matches of 2013, first four of 2014)…did not yield a goal in school-record 798:15 before Hawaii scored in the first half, Sept. 7…Cougars are second nationally in save percentage (second in Pac-12) at .919, fourth nationally (third) with a 0.29 goals against average and tied for tied for eighth in the country (third) in shutout percentage (.700)…redshirt-senior goalkeeper Gurveen Clair is fourth in the nation (third in Pac-12) with a 0.29 goals against average and fourth nationally (second) in save percentage (90.9) while playing every second for Washington State this season…Washington State has seven shutouts this season and 12 in its last 16 matches without giving up more than one goal in a match during that stretch…allowed three goals this season.

WASHINGTON STATE ON THE ROAD

The Cougars will play their first match at Lower Soccer Field in Pullman since Aug. 31 when they host Arizona, Friday…earn first road victory in school history over a Top 10 opponent with a 1-0 triumph at California, Oct. 3…result also broke a 19-match winless streak on the road against Top 25 teams.

CONFERENCE STARTS

Washington State won its conference opener (1-0 at Oregon State) for the first time since 2011 (tied UCLA in 2012 and Oregon in 2013 on the road)…Cougars improved to 2-0-0 in conference play for the first time since 2006 with a 1-0 victory at California.

COUGARS SEEK RETURN TO POSTSEASON

Washington State has made three-straight NCAA Championship appearances, a first for the program…Cougars have made five trips to the NCAA postseason in the last six years, one of 28 schools nationally to accomplish the feat…Cougars have advanced to the second round twice in that span…last year, Washington State was eliminated by Illinois in the first round on penalty kicks to finish 14-3-4…victory total tied a school record set in 1990 and equaled in 2009.

ABOUT ARIZONA

The Wildcats are 8-2-1, 2-1-0 Pac-12…tied with USC and Washington State for third place in the Pac-12...Arizona has split two road matches this season and is 2-1-1 away from Tucson overall…Wildcats are No. 36 in the NCAA RPI…Gabi Stoian leads the team with eight goals, five assists and 21 points…Cougars owns a 15-3-1 advantage in the all-time series, including 8-2-0 at home…Washington State has won the last nine meetings…Arizona’s last win in Pullman was 2003.

ABOUT ARIZONA STATE

The Sun Devils are 8-1-3, 1-0-2 Pac-12…play at Washington, Friday…ranked 19th by the NSCAA and 20th by Soccer America…Arizona State is No. 34 in the NCAA RPI…Sun Devils are 3-1-0 on the road and 5-1-1 away from home in 2014…Cali Farquharson leads the team with 10 goals and 22 points…Arizona State leads series with Washington State 12-7-0…road team has won the last five meetings, including the Cougars last year…Sun Devils are 8-1-0 in Pullman with the Washington State victory occurring in 2003.