Sports

Arizona soccer’s matchup with ASU is for all of the marbles

Alex Muñoz

October 29, 2018

Lexi Horsey

Arizona’s junior forward Jill Aguilera dribbles the ball up towards the goal during the game against Washington State on Sunday, Oct 21 at Mulcahy Stadium. The final score was a 2-1 win for the wildcats.

Arizona heads west on the I-10 looking to close out the regular season on the road with a win against in-state rival Arizona State Friday, Nov. 2.

After dropping their season opener 1-0 to Albany Aug. 17 the Wildcats went on a seven-game win streak as they outscored their opponents by a colossal 21-2.

Arizona’s win streak came to a halt in Palo Alto after being shut out 0-2 to powerhouse Stanford. The Wildcats have managed only four wins since by beating Utah, Washington, Washington State and Oregon State. They’ve dropped another three, with losses to USC, UCLA and Oregon, and have settled on two draws against Colorado and Cal.

The Wildcats are currently ranked No. 27 per NCAA Women’s Soccer RPI as the fourth-best Pac-12 team, behind Stanford, USC and UCLA.

Coming in at No. 40, the Sun Devils and the Wildcats are only separated by one game as they both hold close to identical records with ASU at 10-5-1 and Arizona at 11-5-1.

On paper, Arizona has the edge, as they’ve scored a total of 33 goals while only allowing 16. ASU, on the other hand, has scored 28 goals and has allowed 17. Forward Jada Talley leads the Wildcats with a team-high seven goals.

The Sun Devils close out their season two days after their match with Arizona by hosting No. 1 Stanford in Tempe Sunday, Nov. 4.

Arizona will find out if it’s one of 64 teams to be selected for the tournament on Monday, Nov. 5, when the NCAA releases the 2018 NCAA Division l Women’s Soccer Championship bracket. If the Wildcats are selected, they will be making back-to-back appearances and more than likely will resume play Nov. 12 in the first round.

Last year nobody had Arizona penciled in at the start of the season as making the tournament. The Wildcats made it past the first round by defeating TCU 2-1, but was then shut out 2-0 by a more talented Florida State team in the second round.

For Arizona, it’s all about controlling what you can control, and that starts with getting a win Friday in Tempe.

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