The Arizona soccer team played its best game of the season but came up short on a questionable call late in the game in a 1-0 loss to Washington State on Sunday at Mulcahy Staduim.

Arizona defender Analisa Marquez attempted to slow down Cougar’s midfielder Mallory Fox, who had found some space behind the Wildcat defenders. Marquez battled for position to prevent a goal but was called for a foul in the penalty box as Fox fell to the ground.

“”I don’t think they deserved a penalty kick at the end. What the ref said was that I pulled her jersey, and there wasn’t a pull at all,”” Marquez said. “”I stepped in between her and the ball so she dove to get a call to our disadvantage. She got it.””

Fox was rewarded the penalty shot and took full advantage, booting a laser to the upper right corner of the net over the head of Arizona goalkeeper Devon Wharf to score the game-winning goal in the 83rd minute.

“”It certainly stings, because the girls did exactly what we asked them to do. I thought we did a fantastic job in neutralizing them and the game came down to a call,”” said co-interim head coach John Galas. “”It was a little bit of a different team. It’s the team we’ve been waiting to see for a long time.””

Arizona (3-11-1, 0-4-0 Pacific 10 Conference) had an excellent opportunity to tie the game with under a minute left on a point-blank shot by midfielder Alex Davis that went high and wide left.

In the first half, the Wildcats came out looking like a much different team than the previous 14 games of the season. Arizona moved the ball with an offensive rhythm that it had been lacking all season. The Wildcats outshot the Cougars 6-3 in the first half and created several scoring opportunities, which gave a brand new look to the offensive attack.

In the 33rd minute, Davis beat Washington State goalkeeper Meghan Berlingo to the ball outside the right side of the penalty box. Kicking past Berlingo, Davis’ ball did everything but go in as it went out to the left side of the net.

The Cougars came out strong in the second half but the Wildcats were able to hold them off each time they made a threat to score. In the second half, Washington State kicked all five of the two teams’ combined corner kicks.

Despite the early second-half surge by the Cougars, the Wildcats still managed to outshoot them 12-6 for the game. 

“”This was the best game we’ve played this year,”” Marquez said. “”It was a total team effort we look at as a positive moving forward, considering we played our best soccer today.””

Despite the improved offense, Arizona failed to score for the fourth consecutive game and lost its sixth straight game. The Wildcats were missing leading goal scorer Renae Cuellar to flu-like symptoms. Cuellar is expected to be back for the team’s next game against ASU.

After a tough loss, the Wildcats will now prepare for an always-challenging game against ASU on Friday at 7 p.m. at Mulcahy Stadium.