The Arizona soccer team just can’t catch a break. For the second game in a row, a first-half foul led to the game-winning goal for the opposing team.

The Wildcats (5-6-0) watched No. 16 Brigham Young (9-0-2) walk away with a 1-0 victory after what was

overall a strong performance Saturday night. The loss marked Arizona’s fourth 1-0 defeat in its last five games.

“”It’s frustrating knowing how well we played,”” said defender Savannah Levake. “”We just didn’t do a good job of finishing.””

While finishing continues to be an issue for Arizona, untimely fouls have also begun to plague the team.

On Sept. 30, the Wildcats committed a foul deep in its zone to give San Diego State’s Millie Allen a free kick opportunity from just outside the box. Allen converted on the try late in the first period, giving the Aztecs a 1-0 lead that held for the remainder of the game.

A similar situation occurred only eight minutes into Saturday’s contest.

During a scramble for the ball, Arizona defender Sammy Tiampo was called for a foul inside Arizona’s goal box, resulting in a penalty kick opportunity for BYU’s Katie Larkin.

Larkin took advantage of the opportunity and pushed the ball past Arizona goalkeeper Danielle Nicolai.

“”It was a frustrating call,”” Tiampo said. “”I was kind of caught behind (a BYU player) and she kicked up and hit my shin guard and she fell, so I guess they called that a foul.

“”It’s unfortunate, but it’s just something that happens in a college game.””

The call on Tiampo was not the last time the referee’s judgment came into question. On several other occasions, both teams showed disgust toward calls made or supposedly missed.

Arizona head coach Dan Tobias drew a yellow card in the 78th minute for arguing with an official near the Wildcats sideline. Tobias declined to comment on the officiating.

Tiampo said the contest was highly physical, like Arizona’s meeting with San Diego State.

“”When you’re in a game like that, emotions are running high,”” Tiampo said. “”Because of (the high emotions) you tend to get into some harder tackles.””

Despite falling behind early, the Wildcats did not appear to let the deficit distract them. Unlike last weekend, when Arizona appeared to sleepwalk through the remainder of the game, the team rebounded after the penalty shot to regain its rhythm on both sides of the ball.

“”I think emotionally we responded very well to the goal,”” Tiampo said. “”I don’t think we fell down at all. We just picked ourselves up and kept playing hard like we know how to.””

While Arizona’s defense continued its strong play, holding the Cougars to only two shots on goal aside from the penalty kick, the Wildcat offense was lacking once again. Arizona had eight players record shots, with six on attempts on goal.

“”We had the ball a ton today,”” Tobias said. “”When you don’t score a goal, you can always do a lot of nitpicking. But for us, whose goal is to control possession, I think ‘mission accomplished.’

“”We just didn’t finish. If we had gotten that equalizer goal, I was super confident we would have come back to win that game.””