Arizona soccer split its two-game home set over the weekend, dropping Friday afternoon’s game in overtime against Utah before rebounding with a dominating 3-0 victory over Colorado on Sunday.
With their lone victory over the weekend, the Wildcats (8-7-4, 3-6-1 Pac-12) have now surpassed their win total from all of last season both overall and in conference play with one game remaining on their schedule. On Sunday, Arizona pulled away from the Colorado Buffaloes in the second half.
Head coach Tony Amato said it was the Wildcats’ best performance of the season.
“I thought today we put it all together,” Amato said. “To have a complete performance where we won a lot of battles individually and scored some good goals was an exciting day for us.”
After a slow first half, the Wildcats got things going in the 64th minute when Jazmin Ponce dropped the ball off to forward Hannah Wong, who knocked it into the back of the net for her fourth goal of the season. The Buffaloes nearly countered moments later but Arizona goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman made one of her 10 saves on the day to deny the equalizer.
Wanting to extend their lead, the Wildcats all but put the game away in the 69th minute as midfielder Julia Glanz scored her first goal of the season off Wong’s corner kick. The ball was nearly saved off the goal line by Colorado goalkeeper Annie Brunner but the referee awarded the Wildcats the goal making it 2-0. Junior Ali Doller added a goal in the waning moments of the game, her seventh of the season.
For Kaufman, the shutout was her fifth of the season, one more than the four she totaled in 2012.
“It feels great,” Kaufman said. “The defense did a great job of denying the shot. We now have more shutouts and wins in conference than we had last year so it was a big one.”
On Friday, in what was Arizona’s second overtime game in as many weekends, Utah escaped with a 1-0 victory that took more than 100 minutes of game time to complete.
Both teams created several opportunities, with the Wildcats outshooting the Utes 20-13 overall, but in the end neither team was able to take advantage in the first 90 minutes. Arizona’s best opportunity to take the lead in regulation may have come from Ponce, whose free kick from just outside the penalty area was stopped by Utah goalkeeper Lindsey Luke shortly after the second half started. Luke spilled a rebound but the ensuing shot went wide to end the threat.
After a scoreless first overtime period that the Wildcats dominated in possession, Utah’s Taylor Slattery slipped away from an Arizona defender in the 102nd minute and gave Kaufman no chance to make the stop when she put the ball into the top left corner.
Amato said considering how close the two teams were, it wasn’t surprising that one goal decided the outcome.
“Well, I thought it was a 50/50 game,” Amato said. “Both teams battled for long stretches of the game and, unfortunately, they took their chance when they got it in extra-time and that’s really the difference in the game.”
The Wildcats will wrap up the 2013 season Thursday when they take on Arizona State at Murphey Field at Mulcahy Stadium in what will be Senior Day for three Wildcats: Ponce, Ana-Maria Montoya, and Shannon Heinzler.
