Heading into this weekend's Four Points University Plaza Arizona Soccer Classic at home, members of the No. 22 Arizona soccer team feel like they are right where they want to be.
"I think what's good is that we haven't really peaked and hit our full potential, and that's perfect," said senior midfielder Jennifer Klein. "It's kind of like we have some hidden tricks. It's nice. We don't have everything out on the table."
Arizona (3-1-1) hopes to bring out some more of those tricks tonight at Murphy Stadium when they face No. 25 Utah (6-0) at 7:30 p.m.
The Wildcats haven't played the Utes since 2001, but there are many connections between the two teams.
Utah defender Michelle Deatherage teamed on the Sereno Golden Eagles, a Phoenix-based team, with Wildcats Amanda Urtuzuastegui, Claire Bodiya, Kaity Heath and Shannon Kusmit. Deatherage played high school soccer at Horizon High School in Scottsdale, where Bodiya played as well.
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Many Utes players are especially familiar with Arizona sophomore goalkeeper McCall Smith, who grew up in Salt Lake City.
Smith faced many of them as opponents in high school or played with them on Olympic Development Program teams. The ODP also introduced her to Utes head coach Rich Manning in his fourth year.
"He's an awesome guy and definitely knows how to coach," she said. "(He) coaches really similar to (Arizona head coach) Dan (Tobias)."
The Utes lost just one starter from last year's team that placed fourth in the Mountain West Conference. In their perfect start, the team has had only two goals scored against them.
On offense, their newest addition, freshman Adele Letro, leads the team with three goals and two assists.
Arizona faces New Mexico, another Mountain West team, at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.
The tournament presents the first road games for the Lobos (2-1-2), who average a goal scored per game. Junior forward Christine Sweat is tops in goals scored with two.
Tobias said he likes the way the Wildcats are playing right now and that they will need to use all of the experiences gained from the first five games of the season to be successful this weekend and in the future.
"We've been in a lot of situations, so we have a lot of good experiences to draw from and that helps us be even more prepared for any opponent, starting with our tournament on Friday and finishing on Sunday," he said. "We're in a good position."