The Washington State women’s soccer team (7-0-3, 0-0-1 Pac-12) will head back to California for the second time this season when the team plays a pair of conference matches Friday and Sunday against UCLA and USC, respectively, in Los Angeles.

WSU opened Pac-12 play last week on the road against Oregon, leaving Eugene with a 0-0 draw.

Head Coach Keidane McAlpine was content with earning one point on the road in conference play, but he stressed that there were multiple scoring opportunities that could have won the game.

“In this league, to get a result, to get a point on the road is fantastic,” he said in a press conference. “The disappointing part was we created enough chances to win the game.”

Capitalizing on set pieces and scoring opportunities will have to change for the better this weekend, and McAlpine got that message across to the team early in the week.

“In those moments you’ve got to take those chances because this league isn’t going to give you many,” McAlpine said. “We’ve got to be a little better in that area.”

Both UCLA and USC will prove tough tests for WSU.

“We’ve been solid in our defending,” he said. “That has been a focus for our team this year.”

UCLA will come to the Friday match as the No. 4 team in the country by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, while USC brings a lot of athleticism to the table.

“UCLA is obviously playing very well as the No. 4 team in the country,” McAlpine said. “USC is very athletic and improved from last year, so no easy games in this league at all.”

Although the defense has really shut down opposing teams’ offenses, the ability of WSU’s offense to take pressure off the defense has been equally as important for the Cougars.

“By creating chances, by keeping teams under pressure in their end allows us to be a little bit more aggressive defensively,” McAlpine said. “We’ve been very pleased with both sides of the ball in that regard.”

Due to the depth on the Cougars’ roster, McAlpine has had the ability to interchange players without losing cohesiveness in the defensive unit. However, it all starts with the four upperclassmen starters who have provided a solid wall of defense throughout the season.

Redshirt junior Gurveen Clair is one of the constants that keeps the team together, McAlpine said.

“I can live with staying undefeated,” he said. “To be honest, we just need to go down there and play.”

After Baylor’s loss Sunday against West Virginia, the Cougars now hold the nation’s longest active unbeaten streak along with just one of six undefeated records, according to Washington State Athletics.

The UCLA game will begin Friday at 4 p.m., while the USC match will take place Sunday at 3 p.m. Both games will be shown on the Pac-12 Networks.