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By MARIA VASQUEZ
Cronkite News
TEMPE – Arizona State soccer senior forward Cali Farquharson could finish her Sun Devil career with her name etched in the ASU record books.
With 39 career goals, the 21-year-old is 12 goals shy of surpassing Stacey Tullock as the Sun Devils’ all-time leader in career goals.
“If I break the record, that would be incredible for me,” Farquharson said. “I would love to, but I don’t want to put that pressure on myself. I just want to go and see if I can score a goal every game and try to play the best that I can every game and hopefully if I do well, I will exceed my expectations.”
She scored five goals in the team’s first six games before missing the last four with a leg injury. She is expected to return Friday against USC.
“Cali is a proven goal scorer,” ASU soccer coach Kevin Boyd said. “When she gets chances she picks her head up, she picks where to go and she puts it on frame and into a dangerous spot and makes the keeper come up with a brilliant save or she scores.”
But Farquharson’s excellence goes beyond her pursuit of Sun Devils’ history.
She has done everything from participating in an elite training camp to receiving a nomination for a prestigious collegiate award.
In 2014, she was invited to participate in the U.S. Under-23 Women’s National Team training camp.
“That was the best experience I’ve ever had,” Farquharson said. “Every player was clinically amazing at what they did. All of them had tremendous confidence. It showed me where I was and where I needed to be to get to the next level.”
She is one of just three players in the last four years to represent ASU at the camp.
“She scores goals,” Boyd said. “She wins us games. She’s been a really good example of what a top player should look like; hard working, humble, committed to the team first, all the things that you want in a player.”
This past summer Farquharson played for the Seattle Sounders Women of the W-League, the same program that helped produce U.S. soccer stars Alex Morgan and Sydney Leroux.
“Their coach contacted me and asked if I wanted to play with them this summer,” Farquharson said. “I was a little apprehensive because I wanted to go play with a teammate in Colorado, but I ended up making the decision to go to Seattle and play with him and it was one of the best decisions.”
Off the field, Farquharson plays a big role in the community. She is one of 30 women’s soccer student-athletes nominated for the 2015 Senior CLASS Award, an award given to an NCAA Division I senior who has notable achievements in community, classroom, character and competition.
“I love people,” Farquharson said. ”I like being around people and the more I can get involved with school, community service or being with my teammates, the more it helps me to become a better person. When someone is really nice to me, I reflect upon that and I’m like wow, I want someone to feel the same way I feel.”
Some of her volunteer community service activities include visiting Phoenix Children’s Hospital, Pat’s Run and Fantasy Flight, which is one of her favorites.
“We go and help an underprivileged school get to experience the North Pole,” said Farquharson. “One of the airlines sets up a terminal (at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport) as the North Pole and we go and help them out. It’s really awesome because some of them don’t get to get presents or the full on experience of the holidays.”
In addition to soccer and volunteering in the community, Farquharson maintains a 3.54 GPA while majoring in biological sciences with an emphasis in animal physiology.
After ASU, she hopes to play soccer at the next level.
“I want to see how far I can make it with soccer,” Farquharson said. “Hopefully I’m able to make it on a pro team and then when I’m done with soccer, I’ll probably go back to school to get my masters.”
