TUCSON, Ariz. – The University of Arizona women's soccer team will travel to Tempe, Ariz. to take on the University of Central Florida (UCF) on Sep. 1 at 4 p.m. MST and Boston University on Sep. 3 at 11 a.m. MST at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium. Arizona has played UCF once before in 2010 where they tied 1-1 and has never competed against Boston University.
UCF is coming off a major 2-1 2OT win against No. 4 University of North Carolina. The match was decided in the first five minutes of the second overtime. Boston University is off to a 1-3 start having only defeated Northeastern 2-1 on Aug. 24.
Ironclad Defense
Arizona's back line for the last two matches 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 two-for-two shutout matches this season, limiting their opponents to only eight shots total and only two shots on frame. Those metrics come against a formerly-ranked No.16 Oklahoma and a competitive UC Irvine team that returned 21 players from their 13-7-2 campaign in 2016.
Scoring Woes
In Friday's match against UC Irvine, Arizona generated only one shot in the first 45 minutes of play. The Wildcats finished the match with 12 shots and four shots-on-goal but were unable to find the back of the net and the match resulted in a 0-0 tie. This has been a tale of the tape this season, as the squad has been able to run up 28 shots and eight corner kicks through the two matches in the season, but have only tallied two goals.
Quick Start
Arizona opened their 2017 campaign with a rousing victory against the 16th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Friday, Aug. 18 by a score of 2-0 in Norman, Okla. Redshirt freshman Jill Aguilera opened the scoring after a breakaway chance with two minutes left in the first half. She was followed by Hailey Mazzola, who knocked in a centered ball midway through the second period to give the Wildcats a comfortable cushion to complete the victory. True freshman Amanda Porter earned both assists with some intelligent playmaking. On defense, the Wildcats allowed only one shot-on-goal. Goalkeeper Lainey Burdett earned the 11th shutout of her career (now has 12).
2016 Recap
The Wildcats completed their 2016 campaign with a .500 record of 9-9-1 (4-7 Pac-12). This gave the team a seventh-place finish in the Pac-12 after ending the season with a two-game win streak against No. 18 California and Arizona State. The squad came very close to an NCAA Tournament berth that season, as the top six teams in the Pac-12 went on to postseason play. In addition, the team was defeated by a margin of only one goal in six matches - converting a few of those games into ties or wins would likely have given them a berth to the tournament.
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.
Between the Posts
Lainey Burdett got the nod in 16 of Arizona's 19 matches last season after being sidelined the first three games due to an illness. Burdett maintained a goals-against average of 1.16, the fifth-lowest mark by an Arizona goalkeeper. She also earned seven shutouts, a feat that placed her in a tie for third in season shutouts and propelled her to fourth all-time for career shutouts at 10. She added to her total with shutouts at Oklahoma & UC Irvine and now has 12 for her career. The junior is currently ninth all-time in Arizona history with 113 career saves.
The Fab Five
The Wildcats roster features five seniors this season (Gabi Stoian, Charlotte Brascia, Cali Crisler, Brandi Park and Jackie Bollinger). Stoian, Brascia, Crisler and Bollinger are looking to be the first class in Arizona history to qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the third time (Park transferred from Pima Community College in 2016). From 2014-16, the team posted a record of 34-22-5 (tied for the most wins in a three-year period in Arizona history).
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