The Arizona soccer team (2-5-1) is at a point where their season can go either way.
This weekend may be the Wildcats final shot at moving their season in a positive direction, as they travel to California for a two-game road trip to take on University of California, Santa Barbara (4-4) at 7 p.m. tonight and Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, (3-4-1) on Sunday at noon.
“”Certainly, the goal is to win both of these games as we finish up our non-conference schedule,”” said Arizona head coach Dan Tobias. “”When (we’re) playing outside of (our) conference, everyone wants to play against and beat a Pac-10 team.””
Though both teams may be motivated to play against Pacific 10 Conference teams, such as the Wildcats, both are lower level squads that should give them the best chance to turn their season around.
“”This is definitely a good opportunity for our team to move toward getting our record back to .500,”” said redshirt senior Devon Wharf. “”If we play well in these last few non-conference games, it will give us momentum going into conference play.””
The Wildcats are familiar with both teams, having played each of them last season. The Wildcats hosted UCSB on Sept. 28, 2008, at Mulcahy Stadium but suffered a 1-0 overtime loss. Arizona fared better against Cal Poly on Aug. 24, 2008 — their home opener last season — and should be capable winning against the two familiar teams.
“”We have a little history with both teams, a good chunk of our players have played against both teams,”” Tobias said. “”Both teams have done well in their respective conferences so we should still expect to play two very good teams.””
Despite the slow start, Tobias likes the effort that his team has shown but admits that effort doesn’t always get the best result.
“”One of the things that’s hard about sports is sometimes you don’t get rewarded for your effort. Our effort has been good, but we just haven’t gotten the results,”” he said. “”Our focus will have to be on the next match and trying to win that match.””