The Arizona Wildcats (2-4-2) soccer team is coming off of a weekend of mixed results, tying Central Florida 1-1 and losing a game 5-1 to Ohio State.
After training this week, Arizona prepares for two non-conference games, and feels confident moving forward with its product on the field.
Jett providing stability in goal
Junior Ashley Jett has seen glimpses in goal the past two seasons, but in her first year as the full-time keeper, the College Station, Texas, native is relishing in every minute.
Head coach Lisa Oyen praised Jett for her consistent work ethic during the week in training, and not missing a beat when it comes game time.
“”She’s a vocal leader and she brings a veteran presence without a doubt,”” Oyen said.
“”The way she handles training, the way she handles games is very consistent. There’s not a lot of variation from training to games, which is good because we know how she’s going to present herself in a game,”” Oyen added.
Entering this weekend, Jett is the early leader in the Pacific 10 conference for total saves (38), and saves per game (6.33).
While Oyen joked that leading in that statistic was tricky knowing that it indicates the opponents are taking a lot of shots, she added that Jett is providing an anchor in goal and she was happy with the junior’s effort so far this season.
“”We feel very comfortable with what she can do in goal,”” Oyen said.
Making a positive out of a negative
Still without junior Renae Cuellar this weekend due to an injury, Oyen looked at the bright side of losing her leading scorer.
“”Not having Renae’s presence in the game — I think one thing that’s good is that I think she’s set the standard and the model for how we want to attack,”” Oyen said.
“”Some of our younger players who have scored a few goals can sort of emulate the way she attacked.””
Specifically, freshmen Ana Montoya and Jazmin Ponce are two of the younger players who are expected to step up in Cuellar’s absence, with each player bringing their own element to the field.
Montoya credited her international experience with the U-20 Colombian team in preparing her for an elevated role. “”Keeping the ball on the ground, and moving after I pass the ball, just a lot of movement off the ball,”” she said as part of what she brings to the field.
Ponce explained that she was preparing to be a go-to goal-scorer since before setting foot on campus.
“”Since I came here, I planned to be a goal-scorer, even though Renae (Cuellar) was here, I thought I’d be playing behind her up front,”” Ponce said.
“”I can dribble the ball and I can hold it and I can make something happen.””
Keeping the offense flexible
Oyen mentioned last weekend that she and the coaches were still refining the team’s mentality on offense, and were still working to develop the most potent way to utilize their attackers.
This week’s theme was flexibility on offense, training the Wildcats playing up top to react organically in the middle of a match, and tweak the attacking scheme on the fly.
“”We’re not tied in to one system because if that system doesn’t work, we have no back up,”” Oyen said.
“”What we’re doing this week is going with our basic format on how we want to attack, but focusing on being able to adjust here and there based on how our opponents set up so that we can recognize that and adjust during the course of the game.””
— Michael Fitzsimmons
