The Arizona soccer team’s season came to an end Sunday with a 2-1 road loss to Washington.

Arizona’s defeat brought a close to what has been a particularly disappointing Pacific 10 Conference season in which the team finished with a 2-7 record in the conference.

The loss also marked the Wildcats’ fourth straight on-the-road loss, as they fell short Friday in Pullman, Wash., against Washington State (9-5-5, 3-3-2 Pac-10) in a 1-0 defeat.

In both efforts last weekend, Arizona (9-11, 2-7) showed similar trends that have haunted the team throughout conference play.

Once again, the Wildcats struggled to close out on opportunities. Against the Huskies (14-5-1, 5-3-1), Arizona managed to get off 11 shots including six on goal. But the Wildcats struggled to convert on their chances until late in the contest when defender Analisa Marquez took a pass from midfielder Leila Amini and tucked it away to the left corner of the goal. The goal, however, came too late: the Huskies had already given themselves a two-goal advantage with their second goal after goalkeeper Chelsea McIntyre had been pulled late in the first period.

The Wildcats then failed to create many more opportunities in the game’s final seven minutes.

A similar story occurred Friday. Arizona forced the Cougars’ goalkeeper Lindsay Parlee to work hard, as she finished the game with six saves; but thanks to the strong effort by Parlee, and Arizona’s apparent inability to find the back of the net, the Wildcats once again succumbed to a shutout – the eighth time Arizona has failed to record a goal this year.

The other issue that has stalked the Wildcats throughout their recent eight-game stretch – defensive miscues – arose this weekend as well.

Despite characteristically strong efforts from goalkeeper Chelsea McIntyre, Arizona’s opponents have managed to take advantage of Wildcat mistakes to get the ball into the net.

In Friday’s match, the Cougars’ lone goal came as a result of a miscommunication defensively as a ball struck by Washington State midfielder Elysse Van Leer ricocheted off an Arizona defender and went into the net.

While the remainder of the game was ultimately flawless, the lone mistake, coupled with the lack of a scoring offense, doomed Arizona to its seventh loss in eight games. Sunday’s loss made it eight losses in nine.