The Arizona soccer team kicked off the weekend with a six-game losing streak in which they only scored a total of two goals.
After tying Texas Tech 0-0 on Sunday to end the losing skid, the Wildcats finished their non-conference schedule with a 0-7-1 record and without any real improvement in their scoring total. The Wildcats put on arguably their best performance of the season versus Texas Tech, a game that reached the two overtime periods after both teams failed to score a goal through the entirety of regulation.
The main reason the team was able to bring the game into two overtime periods and finally avoid a loss was due to a stellar performance by senior goalkeeper Ashley Jett.
“Ashley came up big,” head coach Lisa Oyen said. “She made some really, really great saves today, especially in overtime.”
Jett spent the night making acrobatic, diving saves that were the driving force behind the Wildcats’ team performance. Her best moment of the game took place in the beginning of the first overtime period, when Texas Tech’s Taylor Lytle nearly ended the game.
“I was trying to do whatever I could to not let them score since I am sick and tired of losing,” Jett said. “The girl took the breakaway, I made the initial save and then it popped back out to her, and I put my legs up and she (Lytle) kicked it right into them.”
On Friday night, the Wildcats faced Pacific University at Mulcahy Stadium. Two minutes into the game, the Wildcats managed to do something they haven’t done very well thus far — score a goal.
Unfortunately, it was an own-goal, the first of three scored by Pacific in a 3-0 victory. The own goal, however, doesn’t tell the whole story about the team’s performance this weekend.
Sunday’s tie was a good sign for the Wildcats, considering that the team was playing without standout freshman Julia Glanz, who received a red card against Pacific on Friday night. Also, Texas Tech’s shellacking of ASU on Friday to the tune of 5-0 was a cause for worry.
“(The tie) is a great step forward,” Jett said. “We got the monkey off our back by not losing tonight and now we go into the (Pac-12), which is the best conference in the nation. We’re on an upswing now so I think it’ll benefit us from here on out.”