Although the Arizona soccer team struggled last season, winning one out of 19 games, goalkeeper Ashley Jett still had a solid season, all things considered. Last season, Jett was a team leader in the net, but now the Wildcats will have to adjust to life without her. Head coach Lisa Oyen is putting her faith in newcomer Gabby Kaufman, a junior transfer from Texas Tech, and freshman Alison Gondosch to fill the void left by Jett.
“We have two really good options,” Oyen said. “Alison is coming in with some experience and then Gabby is coming in with a little more experience from playing in college, but more importantly playing with our team for the spring semester.”
In her two years at Texas Tech, Kaufman played in four games and made three starts, recording a total of 11 saves and allowing three goals.
“I feel like here (at Arizona) I have more of a leadership role,” Kaufman said. “I feel like the girls respect me and I respect them. I finally found my confidence in my voice while playing on the field with them. They also responded in a positive way.”
Meanwhile, Gondosch comes from a decorated club and an experienced high school background in soccer. The Ontario native played for the Brampton United Bullets. Gondosch was part of the U-14 National Championships Gold Medal Team in 2008, served as co-captain from 2009-2011 and was part of the team that won gold in High School Regionals at Rockway Collegiate in 2009.
“It is really nice to have leaders out of the back,” senior defender Alex Smith said. “They are very vocal which I really like, and with me being in the back line it makes our job a lot easier.”
Even though Jett is out of the picture, she has high hopes for the new recruits and her former teammates and plans to support them in any way she can.
“I know that they have put in a ton of work throughout the spring,” Jett said. “I know they have stayed really cohesive as a group. Especially, coming off the season we had last year, which was a huge disappointment for everyone, I would imagine that it would fuel them even more to work harder and make the season different than the outcome we had last year.”
