TUCSON, Ariz. – The University of Arizona women's soccer team will travel to Salt Lake City, Utah and Boulder, Colo. to compete this Thursday, Oct. 19 at 6 p.m. MST and this Sunday, Oct. 22 at 12 p.m. MST, respectively. Arizona has an 8-7 record against Utah all-time, and a 1-3-2 record against Colorado all-time.
Utah (5-7-2) started their season picked fifth in the Pac-12 Preseason Poll and advanced to No. 17 in the United Soccer Coaches poll, but have since lost five straight and are unranked. Colorado boasts a 7-5-3 record and has been placed at 42nd in the RPI in Monday's most recent release.
Confident After Corvallis
Arizona traveled to Corvallis last weekend to take on the Oregon State Beavers and left Corvallis with a 2-0 victory. The Wildcats allowed only two shots-on-goal from Oregon State and took more than 20 of their own. Gabi Stoian finally got back in the scoring column after she put away a deflected shot from Jill Aguilera.
Diversified Attack
The Wildcats' other goal from the weekend came from Kennedy Kieneker, as yet another of Cali Crisler's crosses found its way into the box and connected with Kieneker, who powered the ball into the top-shelf past the Oregon St. goalkeeper. Her goal makes her the 11th player on Arizona's roster to score a goal this season. Three of those players are freshman and one is a defender. Stoian still tops the sheet with three goals.
In the Burdett Cage
Junior Burdett has played all 13 matches for the Wildcats this season. Her goals-against average in those matches is only 0.72 as she has allowed only ten goals. Although Burdett has a strong defensive line in front of her that has prevented most shots from finding the frame, Burdett has made some really huge saves this season. The match against Stanford saw 11 saves for Burdett, each one trumping the last as she used fingertips, kick saves, and fully-extended dives to hold back the Cardinal's swell of shots. Burdett has four shutouts on the season (including against No.11 California), pushing her career count to 14. She has 162 career saves which is eighth all-time.
Young Strikers
True freshmen Hannah Clifford and Amanda Porter scored in last Sunday's match against UCLA with an assist from (true freshman) Jada Talley. Jill Aguilera has also been a key component of the Wildcat attack, generating countless offense chances.
Crisler's Assist-lers
Although she has yet to score a goal this season, Cali Crisler is in the number three spot on the stat sheet this season because she has six assists, her most recent one coming against Oregon State this weekend. Arizona has taken 82 corners this season, over 90% of those coming from Crisler which have added to her ability to assist.
Breaking the Dam
The Wildcats had some trouble getting their offensive river flowing this season, taking 94 shots before their match against BYU on Sept. 15, but only scoring four goals (4.26%). There were no shortage of chances but the team couldn't find the back of the net. Since then, the Wildcats have broken the dam with their offensive prowess, finding eight goals on only 66 shots (12.12%) in the last six matches against teams like No. 1 Stanford, and No. 23 California, No. 6 USC, and No. 2 UCLA.
New Line of Defense
Arizona's back line for every match this season has been Samantha Falasco, Brandi Park, Sabrina Enciso, and Morgan McGarry. Falasco and Park saw over 2,500 combined minutes on defense last season, while McGarry and Enciso are new to the starting lineup. Together, the four defenders have been a major part in Arizona's four shutout matches this season, limiting their opponents to only 59 shots-on-frame in 12 games (avg. 4.92 per game).
Defensive Points
Samantha Falasco has been a huge part of the Wildcat's defensive effort this season as discussed in "A New Line of Defense." However, she also put away the Wildcat's lone goal in their match against Texas Tech on Sept. 10 with her nose off a corner from Cali Crisler. This goal matched her tally from the final match of the 2016 season where Falasco scored again off a Crisler cross to beat rival Pac-12 school ASU 1-0 in the final minutes of the match. She scored again last weekend against the Ducks, battling in the box to get off two shots and finding the back of the net after a flick from Kennedy Kieneker put the ball at her feet.
One More Go Around for Gabi
Senior Gabi Stoian is poised to finish her career as the most decorated player in Arizona history. The Scottsdale native started every game last season and earned 1,503 minutes of time over the course of the season. She scored six goals and tallied five assists for a total of 17 points. These stats pushed her career numbers to 25 goals, 20 assists and 70 points. Stoian is second all-time in each of those categories and is in striking distance of breaking all three of those records in 2017. Her two goals at the Sun Devil Desert Classic have moved her one step closer to building that legacy.
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