Tucson, Ariz. - The University of Arizona Wildcat soccer team was victorious over the Oregon Ducks on Sunday by a score of 1-0. The Wildcats completed the sweep of the Oregon schools, marking Arizona's first Pac-12 weekend sweep since 2005. Arizona now boasts a record of 8-2-1 (2-1 Pac-12) while Oregon fell to 5-4-2 (1-1-1 Pac-12).
“It (getting a Pac-12 weekend sweep) was something that we talked about,” head coach Tony Amato said. “We've been checking boxes off in terms of performances and milestones we're accomplishing in a season-and-a-half now. That was one that we wanted to make sure we checked off, the girls were able to grind out a result today and we feel great about it.”
Just 39 seconds into the match Arizona took the lead thanks to freshman Gabi Stoian. Sophomore Jaden DeGracie took a long flip throw-in; it took a deflection and found the feet of Stoian. She touched it one time and fired into the bottom right corner for her eighth goal of the season. Stoian now has 21 points on the season, which is the top mark in the Pac-12 on the year, excluding today's results from around the conference. Stoian's eight goals are tied for No. 2 in the Pac-12.
The Wildcats created many opportunities in the first half, firing 11 shots, four of which were on target. Stoian found junior Hannah Wong in the box at the 9:28 mark of the first half. Wong connected on a scissor kick but it was not was struck cleanly and it was easily saved by the Oregon goalkeeper. Senior Alexandra Doller and Stoian connected on a 1-2 play that set up Stoian in space at the 18-yard box. Her shot had a great pace but was just inches wide right of the goal. Arizona also had a couple breakaway opportunities but junior Lexe Selman's final touch was too strong in one instance and Doller tripped on another.
“I think this is huge for us,” Wong said. “We just want to keep moving forward. We have a great group of players and they're all good girls. We work hard for each other, that's our foundation and that's what we're doing moving forward as well. I think both games we worked really hard; typically Sunday games are harder because it's the second game of the weekend. We wanted to go out there and grind, we did that today and came out with a positive result.
The Wildcats won two corner kicks, committed 10 fouls and were called offside once in the first half. Oregon tallied seven shots in the first half but only one was on target, drawing a save by senior goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman. The Ducks committed two fouls and won three corner kicks.
Arizona created opportunities in the second half in the attack but none were terribly dangerous for the Oregon goalkeeper. Wong and Brascia both had shots as well as Doller. But, the second half was primarily a defensive battle for the Wildcats and they were up to the challenge every time. Defenders Senior Mykaylin Rosenquist, juniors Alexa Montgomery and Sheaffer Skadsen as well as sophomore Laura Pimienta all played the full 90 minutes for the Wildcats. The quartet all played well in one-on-one situations as well as in positioning.
“We just defend hard,” Rosenquist said. “That's kind of been our forte since Tony (Amato) took over. We take pride in our defending and how hard we work to get the ball back up to the forwards so they can score. We work a lot on our positioning in practice, when to step to the ball, when to press and when to recover, those types of things. Just knowing where we should be really helps us and it helps us win.”
Kaufman and the Arizona defense did not surrender a goal on the weekend. Sunday's shutout was her sixth of the season and 15th of her career. Kaufman saved four shots from Oregon while there other 10 shots were off target. The Ducks committed seven fouls and won five corner kicks. Arizona tallied 19 shots and seven were on target. The Wildcats committed 17 fouls, were called offside three times and won three corner kicks.
“Our girls were outstanding today,” Amato said. “All over the field, in terms of their toughness, their defensive stance and it paid off for us. That is the foundation, we know that if we defend it'll put teams under some pressure, cause some turnovers and create scoring chances for us and it played out like that. We're very happy with their overall performance.”
The Wildcats return to action against Washington State at 2 p.m. MST on Friday Oct. 10 in Pullman, Wash. Sunday's match versus the Washington Huskies in Seattle is set for a 1 p.m. MST start.
“We're very confident,” Amato said. “We know it's not going to be easy and we haven't had a road trip in awhile but we're confident. We know it's going to be difficult but we'll prepare this week and we'll go up there and give it our best.”
For continued coverage of Arizona Wildcat soccer, visit ArizonaWildcats.com and follow @ArizonaWSoccer on Twitter.
