The No. 17 Arizona women’s soccer squad almost swept the Utah Fall Soccer Classic this weekend. Almost.
The Wildcat women narrowly lost 2-1 to No. 24 Utah yesterday after defeating Utah State Friday 3-0 in the Salt Lake City-hosted event. Sophomore forward London King, who scored two goals in Friday evening’s game, said the Wildcats missed opportunity after opportunity against the Utes.
“”It was definitely a heartbreaker,”” King said. “”It should have been four to zero, technically.””
The Wildcat women were the victims of revenge against the Utes, who appeared ready to defeat Arizona after being knocked out of the College Cup by the Wildcats in their 1-0 second-round loss last November.
“”I definitely think last year’s game was on their mind,”” King said. Utah looked strong early on as senior midfielder Melissa Wayman scored the game’s first goal in the beginning of the first half. The Wildcats, however, got a little luck later on in the first half, as Utah accidentally deflected the ball into their own goal. But in the second half, Arizona came up just short as Aggie junior forward Chelsea Card scored the game-winning goal at the 61:07 mark.
The team had hoped things would go their way in the second half, but it never panned out that way. In the final 10 minutes of the game, freshman forward Jasmine Namdar missed an opportunity to tie the game at 2-2 with a penalty kick, but Utah senior goalkeeper Ashley Mason, who had six saves on the game, caught the ball.
Sophomore goalkeeper Chelsea McIntyre, who had four saves against the Utes, said the team showed great potential in the last 25 minutes.
“”I think the team showed that we can be unstoppable if we work together and work hard off the ball,”” McIntyre said. Overall, McIntyre said the team didn’t disappoint her. “”I just wish we could have come out for the whole 90 minutes,”” she said. “”(Then) we would have had no trouble sweeping the weekend.”” Still, the Wildcats looked good against the Aggies, King said.
With an assist from junior defender Kaity Heath, King scored the team’s first goal at the 1:47 mark of the first half. At the 16:04 mark, freshman forward Namdar also added to the mix by scoring the second goal of the game with an assist from sophomore forward Gianna DeSaverio. Then King scored the game’s final goal to put the Aggies away.
“”We got the job done, and we worked hard,”” King said. “”I know as soon as our midfield started connecting, we were going to do well.”” McIntyre, who had two saves against the Aggies, agreed.
“”I thought that we had a great game,”” McIntyre said. “”We showed our potential.”” But King said she believes the Wildcats have a bit to work on. “”We need to get into the flow of the game, keep the rhythm going,”” King said. “”Sometimes we get a little frazzled.””
