Momentum for the rest of the Pac-12 season could come in the form of a home win Sunday for the Washington State women’s soccer team.

The Oregon Ducks stand in their way, looking for an upset on the Lower Soccer Field. If the Cougs (7-2-3, 2-2-1) are going to send the Ducks (6-5-2, 2-2-1) back to Eugene with a loss, they will need to execute in these four areas.

Finish, Finish, Finish

So far this season, the Cougars have had some trouble scoring. The chances are there, which is a plus, but the ball has not been finding the net as often as it should be.

“That’s our game sometimes,” Head Coach Steve Nugent said. “You can dominate statistically, and you can put yourself in the right situations to score goals, but sometimes it just doesn’t happen.”

The Cougars have 69 shots through the first five games of the conference schedule, but only have three goals to show for it. That ranks tenth in the conference. Look for redshirt junior Beau Bremer and senior Jocelyn Jeffers to continue to try and link up in attacking areas. The dangerous crosses and through balls are there, but the attackers have yet to get into a groove.

Set Pieces

Set pieces provide the Cougs with some of their best chances on goal.

Senior defender Mesa Owsley is dangerous on corner kicks and when senior midfielder Nicole Setterlund flies into the box for a header, defenders usually fall to the ground. The Cougars are a fast, scrappy team, which usually provides them with a lot of set piece chances. It may only take one goal off a set piece to open the flood gates.

Continue to Lead the Pac

The Cougars are tied with Stanford for first in the Pac-12 with three shutouts. Senior goalkeeper Gurveen Clair has 14 saves in conference play, the fewest of any starting keeper in the conference, which is not a bad thing considering she has faced the fewest shots.

That means the defense is doing its job, clearing the ball out of dangerous areas before opponents can get a shot off. If the Coug defense is stout on Sunday, there should be no issue with beating the Ducks, who are tied for eighth in the conference in goals scored.

Don’t Let Up

The Cougars are notorious for starting fast in matches. When they kick off to start the game, they send Bremer down the sideline and try to hook up on a long pass. The Cougars scored first in the Arizona game, but ended up allowing three goals in less than ten minutes to wipe away the lead. Coach Nugent called the defensive lapse uncharacteristic for his team.

“Unfortunately on Friday we made very uncharacteristic mental mistakes,” Nugent said. “Very uncharacteristic if you look at the team and the rest of the season, and how we’ve stressed defensively what we’ve been doing as a group and how it’s paid off.”

If Nugent can settle his team down to avoid mental lapses, and WSU plays a disciplined 90 minutes, they should send the Ducks home with their third Pac-12 loss.

The match kicks off at 1 p.m. on Sunday and it will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks

Reporting by Ian Korzeniecki