Arizona men's club lacrosse attackman Jed Godsey arrived at practice earlier this week with a wide smile on his face.
"ASU this weekend, baby!" he yelled to his teammates.
The No. 7 Laxcats look to extend its 18-year win streak against the Sun Devils tomorrow at 7 p.m. at Murphy Stadium.
Arizona opened its most crucial week of the season Tuesday, after spending Sunday night in Ontario, Calif., and splitting up a grueling two-day road trip back to Tucson from California Polytechnic San Luis Obispo.
Although the long bus ride brought some grumpy faces among players, this week may be what will keep the team going, as the Western Collegiate Lacrosse League playoffs and United States Lacrosse Intercollegiate Association Nationals sit right around the corner.
From this point forward, every game determines the fate of the 2005 Laxcats' season.
A win tomorrow secures a playoff spot in the WCLL conference playoffs as well as one of seven at-large bids for the USLIA playoffs.
Accordingly, the team has tried to avoid fatigue throughout the week. Many players compared the dry afternoon Tucson heat to the cool breeze felt last weekend in Southern California.
"We just wanted to keep it cool today, just a low-key practice to work out some offensive kinks," said assistant coach Bryan Moore.
Junior midfielder Brian Etheridge said ASU's athleticism will be crucial in the matchup
"They've got some great athletes, so we're just going to have to be aware of those one-on-one situations," he said.
Sophomore midfielder Jason Bellar leads the Sun Devils with 19 goals this season.
If the Laxcats can pull out a win tomorrow, they expect to play No. 18 Chapman next week in the quarterfinal round of the WCLL playoffs.
Arizona defeated Chapman 7-6 March 25.