TUCSON, Ariz. – The University of Arizona women's soccer team will host Washington and Washington State on Thursday, Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. MST and Sunday, Oct. 29 at 12 p.m. MST, respectively. Arizona has a 3-16-2 record against Washington and a 4-16-1 record against Washington St. all-time.
Washington has had a successful season so far this year with a 9-6-2 (2-4-2 Pac-12) record and have toppled the likes of former No. 2 Florida with a 1-0 victory. They sit two spots behind the Wildcats in the seven spot in the Pac-12 standings.
The Cougars have also shared in some success this season with an 8-6-2 (3-5-0 Pac-12) record. Last week they upset former No. 2 UCLA with a 1-0 victory off a stellar performance from their goalkeeper. They sit only one spot behind Arizona at sixth in the Pac-12 standings.
Four on the Road
The Wildcats traveled to Utah and Colorado this weekend and came away with four points. They went up early against Utah to defeat the Utes 3-2, but failed to score against Colorado despite 29 shots and tied the Buffaloes 0-0. A 103rd minute shot from the Buffaloes' striker that rang off the crossbar had Arizona a little nervous and happy to come away with a tie in Boulder.
Quick Start
Three goals in under twenty minutes in Salt Lake City this weekend came from Cali Crisler, Charlotte Brascia, and Jill Aguilera. Assists were credited to Gabi Stoian, Kennedy Kieneker, and Jill Aguilera. Even with these early goals the Wildcats were outshot 19-11 by the Utes and hung onto their lead into the final minutes of their 3-2 victory. The Utes scored goals off a free kick and a long-distance shot in the 87th minute that went bar-down to beat Lainey Burdett.
Where There's a Will, There's a Jill
Jill Aguilera finally had her breakout weekend as she fired eight shots this weekend (six on goal, 75%) and came away with a goal and an assist in the Utah match. After suffering a torn ACL last season, the Wildcats have been hoping to see a standout performance from their young striker. She now has two goals and two assists on the season.
In the Burdett Cage
Junior Burdett has played all 15 matches for the Wildcats this season. Her goals-against average in those matches is only 0.745 as she has allowed only 12 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 six shutouts on the season (including against former No. 11 California), pushing her career count to 16. She has 175 career saves which is eighth all-time.
Distributed Attack
Try marking this: twelve different players have scored for the Wildcats this season, including one defender and five bench players. This allows the Wildcats to develop their attack in multiple different ways – whether they are passing directly to their striker's feet or over the top for speedy forwards to run onto, you can be sure Arizona has someone who can put the ball into the back of the net.
Crisler's Assist-lers
Cali Crisler is in the number one spot on the stat sheet this season because she has six assists, her most recent one coming against Oregon State last weekend. She also earned her first goal of the season on a well-placed shot into the side netting against Utah. Arizona has taken 90 corners this season, over 90% of those coming from Crisler which have added to her ability to assist.
Senior Week
It's senior week at the University of Arizona and with it, Arizona's five seniors see their final three matches with team. Cali Crisler, Gabi Stoian, Charlotte Brascia, Brandi Park, and Jackie Bollinger are positioned to be the first senior class to qualify for three NCAA tournaments in their tenure with the university.
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 six shutout matches this season, limiting their opponents to only 76 shots-on-frame in 15 games (avg. 5.07 per game).
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.
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