The big news in the Pac-12 coming out of the weekend was Arizona State’s 2-1 victory over No. 2 Stanford in Palo Alto on Sunday night. The loss snapped both the Cardinal’s 73-match home unbeaten streak and its 44-match conference winning streak.
The Cardinal’s last loss at home was on Nov. 23, 2007 — nearly six years ago. Stanford went 70-0-3 during the streak. The last conference game the Cardinal didn’t walk out of victorious was on Oct. 31, 2008 against UCLA, and that game resulted in a tie. During that span, Stanford collected every Pac-12 title.
“Congrats to @ASUSoccer on a tremendous win,” tweeted Utah head coach Rich Manning on Monday morning. “And, Bravo, to @StanfordWSoccer on an incredible run of conference and home wins.”
After years of dominance, the Cardinal’s loss may signal a changing of the guard in the conference. At the very least, the loss is sure to provide hope to the rest of the Pac-12. Stanford doesn’t have much time to lick its wounds, as it will welcome preseason conference favorite No. 3 UCLA to town on Thursday.
Utah in particular is in prime position to take advantage of the Cardinal’s loss. After saying all season that they can compete for and win a Pac-12 championship, the Utes are now letting their play do the talking. Utah defeated Oregon and Oregon State over the weekend, giving the Utes a conference record of 2-0-1 and seven points in the standings.
That seven points ties them with Cal for the league lead. UCLA only trails the top two teams by a single point, but the Bruins have played one less match. UCLA’s contest Thursday with Stanford is one the Utes will surely have a close eye on.
Road woes
Utah has used a three-game conference opening homestand to climb atop the Pac-12 standings, but the real test for the Utes begins this weekend. Since joining the conference in 2011, Utah has just one road conference victory with nine losses and one tie.
“The team has been playing very, very well,” Manning said. “I think getting some of the results the last three games in conference will help our confidence for next weekend.”
The Utes will be on the road for both games this weekend, visiting Washington (5-5-1, 1-0-1) Friday before heading to Washington State (8-1-3, 1-1-1). The Utes defeated both the Huskies and Cougars last season, but both games were played at the Ute Field.
“Certainly every game is a challenge, but we feel we are up to it,” Manning said.
Luke closes in on shutout record
Goalkeeper Lindsey Luke collected two more shutouts over the weekend, giving her seven on the year. With eight matches remaining on the season, Luke is just one shutout away from tying Ashley Mason’s school record for shutouts in a season that she set in 2003.
With all the shutouts, it is no surprise that Luke leads the Pac-12 in save percentage (.970) and goals against average (0.11)
“She has allowed one goal all year,” Manning said. “So, she’s doing something right.”