After their second tie and ninth loss of the season this weekend, the Arizona soccer team now finds itself without a win as it passes the midpoint of the season.
On Friday, the Wildcats tied Colorado 2-2 in a hard-fought game in Boulder, Colo., after both teams were unable to score in either of the two overtime periods. The game on Sunday afternoon was not as close, however, as the Wildcats fell to Utah 3-1 in Salt Lake City.
Juniors Susana Melendez and Jessica Culver scored the two goals on Friday, while sophomore Ana-Maria Montoya scored Arizona’s only goal in Sunday’s loss.
At 0-9-2, all hope would seem to be lost, but head coach Lisa Oyen insisted the team has not given up.
“You know they’re very competitive and they fight back, they always will that’s just their makeup, and I’m really proud of them for that. Their motivation is still to try and win some games this year,” Oyen said.
Although the team was unable to come out of the weekend with any victories, the Wildcats were able to do something this weekend that they have struggled to do all season long: score goals. After scoring only two goals in their previous nine games, the team scored three this weekend. That clearly wasn’t enough, however, and Oyen pointed out that the team has struggled with their decision-making.
“(The team) has to make better decisions in the second half keeping the ball. They’re playing a little bit differently because of all the injuries, and I think they wanted to put in the physical work because it was a physical game (against Utah),” Oyen said. “We just have to play a little smarter.”