The Arizona soccer team completed a weekend sweep by defeating No. 3 Texas – the defending Big 12 Conference champions – 2-0 last night at Murphey Stadium.
The Wildcats (3-1) started out slow on offense, managing only one shot in the first half, despite putting continuous pressure on the Longhorn defense.
In the 14th minute, lightning struck in the form of Jasmin Day. After a long cross into the penalty box by midfielder Jasmine Namdar, Day chipped the ball past Texas goalie Dianna Pfenninger and into the net for her second goal of the season.
Five minutes later, Arizona goalkeeper Danielle Nicolai dove to her right to halt a header by Texas’ Alisha Ortiz.
The Longhorns (3-1) outshot Arizona 6-2 in the second half. Midway through the frame, Kelsey Carpenter had the game-tying goal called off due to an offsides infraction. Nicolai made another huge save, diving to her right to again rob Ortiz, who outshot the Wildcats by herself (4-3).
In the 80th minute, Pfenninger took a free kick from midfield and would have scored if Nicolai hadn’t tipped the ball away. Nicolai finished with five saves.
“”Two huge saves,”” said UA head coach Dan Tobias. “”She played fantastic.””
As Texas fought to tie the score, senior Claire Bodiya anchored the Arizona defense, sacrificing her body on numerous occasions to preserve the lead.
“”You’re the leader back there,”” Tobias told Bodiya during halftime. “”You make sure that the defense is airtight back there.””
“”Everyone else played really well,”” Nicolai said. “”They were really important in getting the win.
“”Its gonna be a long plane ride home (for Texas),”” she added.
Laura Huylebroeck iced the game in the 87th minute when she chipped a shot over Pfenninger, who had vacated the net, to give the Wildcats a 2-0 lead.
“”It’s awesome,”” Day said. “”We’re showing people that Arizona is here to compete and that we’re ready to take teams on.””
Arizona beat Nevada 2-1 on Friday.
Despite rainy, windy conditions, the Wildcats looked much more aggressive than they had the previous weekend.
Forward London King, Arizona’s leading returning scorer from last season, netted her first goal of 2007 in the 35th minute after a cross from Day.
“”Jasmin hustled and got the ball before it went out of bounds and gave a good cross,”” King said. “”And I just hustled to get to the ball before the two defenders and took about two touches and hit it into the back of the goal.””
King said she was excited to get in the goals-scored category.
“”It’s really important,”” she said. “”Because I feel after you get your first one they start to flow. You get comfortable, and … now they’ll just flow.””
Nevada tied the score at 1-1 after a goal by Karen Zmirak in the 47th minute.
“”Everyone was disjointed, and (Nevada) just put it over the top of us,”” said defender Kaity Heath of Arizona’s lone goal allowed. “”Next time we just need to all go together (to the ball), and then Danielle can come out and get that (the ball). It was an overall team mistake.””
Defender Savanah Levake scored the game-winner only five minutes later, in the 52nd minute, after her 5-yard strike eluded diving Nevada goalkeeper Marie Cove for her second goal of the season. The assist went to Jacqueline Broussard.
“”I was glad to see that we responded quickly after giving up a goal,”” Tobias said.ÿ “”(Friday night) was difficult for us to get into a good rhythm. Nevada was a tough, strong, physical team, which made it difficult for us to gain momentum. They were disruptive and made it hard on us the entire 90 minutes. So we were trying to find a rhythm and we had some moments, but not as many moments as we would prefer.””
-Bobby Stover contributed to this story
