Arizona soccer’s struggles continued against Washington in a 4-1 loss at Mulcahy Stadium on Friday, Oct. 15.
Arizona started with possession and was able to get two corners off early in the first and fifth minute but neither corner was able to be received by an Arizona player and went out of bounds.
Arizona almost gave up possession on a dangerous pass from a Wildcat defender to goalkeeper Hope Hisey, but she was able to stop the ball before anyone else could get to it in the ninth minute.
Washington got a goal kick in the 20th minute and was able to capitalize off a bad pass from an Arizona defender that was intended for Hisey. Ruby Hellstrom of Washington stole the pass and shot the ball past Hisey for the first score of the game, taking an early 1-0 lead in the 21st minute.
Arizona forward Jill Aguilera followed the goal with a shot of her own to the bottom left corner of the goal but had it saved by Washington goalkeeper Olivia Sekany in the 23rd minute. Arizona continued to fight, getting off two more shots but was unable to convert.
In the 39th minute, Arizona committed a foul that led to a Washington penalty kick. Summer Yates took the penalty and shot it into the top of the net over Hisey to make the score 2-0. Arizona was unable to answer but almost scored on a shot from Madison Goerlinger in the 42nd minute and went into half scoreless.
Arizona started the second half by giving up a goal in the 49th minute. Peyton McGee passed the ball from the sidelines into the box where Olivia Van der Jagt tapped the ball in past Hisey to make the score 3-0. Arizona was able to respond with some shots on goal but still was unable to put any in the goal.
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In the 70th minute, Hisey made a save that bounced off her hands directly into a Washington player. Washington’s Margaux Clarke then passed the ball to Makayla Woods who easily put it in the net as Hisey was not able to get back in a position to save it and made the score 4-0.
Olivia Briede gave the Wildcats their closest chance to score on a long shot but it hit the middle of the top post and bounced away in the 74th minute. Arizona forward Aguilera was able to convert on a free kick outside of the box that went soaring over the goalkeeper’s head to make the score 4-1 in the 85th minute.
The goal moved Aguilera into sole possession of the second place in goals scored with 30, putting her three goals away from breaking the record.
“We got that call and it was important, I said one way or another either I’m scoring or someone is getting their head on it, foot or something,” Aguilera said. “We’re gonna get this in the back of the net and we did.”
Arizona was unable to get off another shot before the end of the game. Arizona did have 13 shots on the game with eight shots in the first half, showing improvement for the offense that has struggled to get going early in games.
Sophomore defender Sarah Rice got her first start in place of an injured Sabrina Enciso.
“It was really good,” Rice said. “I think it gave me the confidence to have composure on the ball and work with my teammates to have that confidence.”
After the game, head coach Becca Moros felt like they dominated play in the loss but couldn’t make enough winning plays.
“I don’t really have answers for this one because I didn’t think that they came at us with much, anything too clever,” Moros said.
Arizona’s record now stands at 3-10-0 with a 0-6 record in conference play. Arizona travels to play the University of California, Berkeley, on Oct. 21 at Edwards Stadium at 3:00 p.m. MST.
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