The Washington State soccer team (9-2-3, 2-2-1 Pac-12) will continue its home stand Friday when it hosts the Oregon State Beavers (3-9-2, 1-3-1 Pac-12) at 2 p.m.

Coming off of a win against Colorado last Friday, high intensity proved to make the difference for Head Coach Keidane McAlpine’s squad, which will need to continue throughout conference play.

“We jumped out with the proper level of energy and intensity,” he said. “It was a quality win for us.”

However, Sunday the team lost a double-overtime heartbreaker to Utah. Despite the loss, the Cougars overcame a 3-0 deficit in the second half to tie the game in regulation, showing the resiliency and competitive nature of McAlpine’s team.

“In the second half, that’s the team we’ve been waiting for,” he said. “That’s the team that has a chance to do some special things.”

Although Washington State is sitting at seventh place in the Pac-12, the Cougars are just one win shy of leap-frogging multiple teams and getting into second place, showing the depth and quality of teams in such a competitive conference.

“Anybody can beat anybody on any given day,” McAlpine said. “The teams are organized, hungry, and even those who haven’t won as many games are still dangerous and playing some exciting soccer.”

With just one month remaining in the regular season, the Cougars have their eyes set on returning to the postseason for the second time in as many years under McAlpine, but the team is focusing on one game at a time.

“The goal is to continue to play one game at a time,” McAlpine said. “(If we can) bring the proper level of intensity and focus to the game, similar to a postseason environment, if we can play in that sort of urgency, I think all the rest of the goals will fall into place just fine.”

Pink jerseys will be out in full force Friday when the Cougars play in their annual Breast Cancer Awareness Match, which supports National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

“It’s one of those things across the country that people are taking the time to support,” McAlpine said. “It’s a special day, it affects everybody’s community, so it’s the least we could do to raise awareness on one day out of the year.”

According to Washington State University Athletic Communications, WSU leads the all-time series against the Beavers 11-8-3, including a 2-1 victory last year when junior midfielder Nicole Setterlund scored the game-winning goal in the 70th minute.