The Arizona Wildcats, fresh off their 6-0 thrashing of Houston Baptist University, are traveling to Tempe for match days four and five to participate in the Sun Devil Desert Classic. The ‘Cats will play Southeast Missouri State University and the University of New Hampshire while up north.
Neither Southeast Missouri State nor New Hampshire should pose much of a threat to the ‘Cats, as both teams have less-than-stellar records. The Southeast Missouri State Red Hawks are 1-2 on the year, losing to the University of Evansville and Missouri State University while beating the University of Illinois-Springfield. The New Hampshire Wildcats are 2-2 so far, with wins against the University of Rhode Island and College of the Holy Cross and losses to #14 Princeton University and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
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The Red Hawks are led in scoring by freshman Morgan McCourt, who scored a brace in the Red Hawks’ win over Illinois-Springfield. Esmie Gonzalez and Jennifer Brien scored Southeast Missouri State’s other two goals. Emily Holten leads Southeast Missouri State in assists with two, while Cassidi Tomsu and Katie Wegmann also have an assist each.
The University of New Hampshire Wildcats are led in scoring by Ally Reynolds, who’s scored twice, while Casey Peterson, Megan Kikosicki, Sofia Borea and Francesca Picicci have each scored once. Peterson, in addition to scoring, leads the UNH Wildcats in assists with two. Megan Kikosicki, Liz Lane and Belle Pesante each recorded an assist, as well.
New Hampshire is a bit of a worrisome matchup for UA. Their two wins came after regulation. New Hampshire beat Rhode Island in overtime and beat Holy Cross in double overtime. That signals that they’re patient and deliberate in the opportunities that they take advantage of and most likely have a good counter attack. It also means that Arizona needs to score early and often, and that New Hampshire has the benefit of luck, which Arizona had last year.
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Arizona has never played either Southeast Missouri State or New Hampshire.
UA doesn’t have the best track record in Tempe. Last season, the ‘Cats went 0-1-1 in the Sun Devil Desert Classic. They fell to an eventual tournament team in the University of Central Florida and drew Boston University.
The ‘Cats are rolling off a great day in Arizona soccer history. They beat Houston Baptist 6-0 last Sunday, which was head coach Tony Amato’s 56th Arizona win. He now is the winningest coach in program history.
UA’s 6-0 score line was the biggest Arizona’s had since they lost 6-0 to the University of California, Los Angeles in 2014, and their biggest win since beating the University of California, Riverside 6-0 in 2013.
Jada Talley scored two goals against HBU, twice what she scored all of last year. Furthermore, sophomore Sabrina Enciso and freshmen Michaela Rentner, Brooke Wilson and Gabe Jillings scored their first career goals.
Arizona kicks off against Southeast Missouri State on Friday at 4:30 p.m., and against New Hampshire at 11:00 a.m. on Sunday. Both of Arizona’s games will be broadcast on Arizona State University’s livestream on both its and the Pac-12’s websites.
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