Last year the Arizona soccer team did something that had never been done in the history of the program — they beat ASU.
Arizona (3-11-1, 0-4-0 Pacific 10 Conference) will have a chance to earn its first home victory against ASU (7-4-3, 0-3-1 Pac-10) at Mulcahy stadium at 7 p.m.
Amidst a six-game losing streak, the Wildcats just want a win right about now. The interstate rivalry just adds more incentive to acquire a win amidst a season filled with disappointments.
“”We’ve only beat them one time, but now it’s time for us to beat them on our field,”” said senior Samantha Drees. “”I don’t want to lose anymore; I’m sick and tired of it. I really want to win this game and hopefully get a goal in the back of the net.””
One thing is certain. The Wildcats will need someone to step up and break the team out of its current scoring drought to have any chance at a win. Arizona hasn’t scored a goal in 447 minutes, the longest scoring drought in the Arizona soccer history.
The Wildcat’s last goal came in the first half of a 2-1 loss to Loyola Marymount on Oct. 2, which means they’ve gone nine halves without scoring.
If Arizona can play with the same offensive rhythm they showed in the 1-0 loss to Washington State on Sunday — complimented with the return of leading goal scorer Renae Cuellar, who sat out Sunday’s game with the flu — the Wildcats expect to be just fine.
“”We saw so many positives in our last game that we expect the same in this game against ASU,”” said co-interim head coach John Galas. “”It will be an extremely emotional game and the team that can stay composed will have the greater chance to win.””
If the Wildcats can find a way to win the game against the Sun Devils, the seniors on the team can walk away having beaten them two straight games and adding at least one bright spot to a frustrating season.
“”I came to this program wanting to make an impact,”” Drees said. “”It hasn’t gone how I would’ve wanted (it) to go but walking away with a win against ASU would make it so much better.””