Coming off of a weekend series on the road, the Washington State University women’s soccer team (8-1-3, 1-1-1 Pac-12) will return home to take on Colorado and Utah Friday and Sunday, respectively, in two more conference matches.

The past six road games yielded a 3-1-2 record during that stretch, a record Head Coach Keidane McAlpine was pleased with overall.

“It was a good stretch for us,” he said at a press conference. “3-1-2 is not a bad way to come through that kind of stretch, especially with the quality that we played in the opponents.”

With seven Pac-12 teams in the top 44 in the RPI rankings, and four of those five teams scheduled to play in Pullman, McAlpine stressed the importance of protecting home field and playing with a high level of intensity prior to postseason play.

“Protecting the home field is the No. 1 thing that we have to do going forward,” he said. “With those teams coming in to Pullman, we have to play well, and we have to go out and try to get some results at home. It’s hard enough to get them on the road, so we definitely have to take care of home.”

Although senior forward Micaela Castain did not record a goal over the weekend, other players including junior midfielder Mesa Owsley and sophomore forward Kourtney Guetlein stepped up in terms of goal scoring.

“Teams are keying in on Micaela a little bit,” McAlpine said. “We have to get some other people involved, and it was great to get Kourtney and Mesa going, and just get some other people to maybe even now get Micaela free again.”

The back line has been taking pressure off the offense and keeping a clean sheet for the majority of the year, something McAlpine thinks will continue.

“I thought all weekend the defense was pretty stout,” he said. “The defense gave us a chance to find some opportunities to score when our offense wasn’t clicking.”

With the anticipated cold weather approaching, to go along with a good number of games that have been played, keeping fresh legs on the park is certainly a point of emphasis moving forward.

“The players that play the most minutes are going to be a little heavy, we’ve got to find some times to give them a break,” he said. “This is the weather we like, this is the weather we want to play in, and Colorado and Utah are not used to the Palouse, so we think we’ll be just fine.”

The Friday match against Colorado will begin at 2 p.m. on the Lower Soccer Field, followed by an 11 a.m. start time against Utah Sunday. The Sunday game will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.