Consistent strong offensive attacks and teamwork led the Arizona women’s soccer team to its second road-victory on Sunday, as the Wildcats outscored the Creighton Bluejays 3-1. With the win, the Wildcats have already topped their win total from last season.
“It wasn’t just individual players that made the game,” head coach Lisa Oyen said. “We had good ball movement and good attacking by the entire team. It was a group effort in how all the goals were created.”
The Wildcats outshot the Bluejays by taking a total of 17 shots for the game, nine of which were on goal to Creighton’s eight shots, six of which were on goal.
The last time the Wildcats scored three goals to win a match was September 12, 2010, when they took on Tennessee in Tempe.
Junior forward Jazmin Ponce led Arizona in scoring with two goals, followed by fellow junior mid-fielder Susana Melendez.
Melendez scored her second goal of the season just under 13 minutes into the game off of a pass from freshman forward Hannah Wong, who leads the team in assists. The ball hopped over Creighton’s goalkeeper Katie Jo Swanson and into the back of the net giving Arizona the early lead.
Just about four minutes later, Ponce launched the ball from 40 yards out on the left side of the field off Wong’s second assist for the season, sinking it into the back of the net and putting the Wildcats ahead 2-0.
On the defensive end, junior goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman, a transfer from Texas Tech, had a total of four saves for the match, two of which were in the first half. However, at just over the 25-minute mark Creighton’s Kelsey O’Donnell fired a shot from 20 yards out making it past Kaufman and into the back of the net. This would be the only goal the Bluejays would score for the match.
“The defense did a good job of trying not to give up too many shots or too many open shots which is a big thing,” Oyen said. “There will be times where we do give up some opportunities, but we try to limit them. The defense’s job is to predict the type of shots that will come in and just making sure they put pressure on individual players.”
In the second half, Ponce showed of her talent by making the third and final goal of the match with just under 7 minutes left in the match. The goal was Ponce’s third for the season, as she takes back the title of lead scorer for Arizona from junior mid-fielder Ana-Maria Montoya.
With Ponce’s goal, the Wildcats have now tied the number of goals they scored all of last season.
“We want to make sure we keep the momentum from this win in our training to build our confidence and energy, which will then carry into the next game,” Oyen said. “We try not to look too far ahead, but instead take it session by session and game by game.”
The Wildcats improve to 2-2-0 for the season. On Friday, the team will travel to Tempe to participate in the Sun Devil Desert Classic as they take on Pepperdine University.
