The Arizona soccer team played a strong game and swiftly recovered from last week’s loss (1-2) to bring the heat to the Nebraska Cornhuskers at Mulcahy Soccer Stadium. Arizona’s Jill Aguilera secured the team’s win at the last minute with a shot that went straight through the goalkeeper’s legs. Aguilera was assisted by Madison Goerlinger with a final score of 3-2.
From the beginning, the Cornhuskers controlled the speed of the game. Keeping the Wildcats on alert, Nebraska took multiple shots at the 2nd and 4th minute marks. At the 8th minute, Nebraska’s Eleanor Dale scored the first goal of the game. The Wildcats suffered an early offside but bounced back with a shot on goal by Mariah Dunn.
Arizona’s Gianna Christensen showed up with a great defensive effort and got a turnover. Right after Christensen’s play, Aguilera scored a stunner that chipped over the goalkeeper at the 18th minute and was assisted by Goerlinger. The Wildcats continued the game at 1-1.
After a couple of shots from both teams, Sabrina Enciso received a foul at the 19th minute of the game, followed by a foul on Aguilera at the 32th minute.
Hisey Hope, Arizona’s goalkeeper, saved a top-right shot at the 30th minute by Nebraska’s Grace Brown, followed by a second foul on Encino at the same time.
The team continued to fight throughout the first half. Both Aguilera and resilient Christensen had a shot at the 36th minute but couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity. After that, Encino fouled for a third time at the 43rd minute. Hope kept the match tied as she saved a bottom right goal right before the first period ended at the 45th minute.
Keeping the momentum, Hope saved another top right shot as the second half started. The Wildcats took the lead 2-1 in the 52nd minute with Arizona’s Nicole Dallin scoring a fantastic outside-of-the-box goal assisted by Maddy Koleno.
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Tianna Sidtikun came off with a yellow card at the 74th minute, followed by another saved shot by Hope.
Nebraska tied the game at the 85th minute to even the score late in the game. Presuming the game would end in a tie, the Wildcats had other plans.
Dynamic-duo Aguilera Goerlinger broke the tie at 3-2 in the 89th minute. The winning goal earned Aguilera her forth goal of the season.
After this win, the Wildcats level up to 3 wins and 3 losses. The team will play at home against Gonzaga at Murphy Field on Sept. 16, 2021, at 7 pm MST.
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