Arizona Soccer Loses Big 12 Opener in a Defensive Battle
Arizona soccer of the past five seasons has been trying to get itself back into the postseason, with the program not making the NCAA Tournament since the 2019 season and has had to overcome a pandemic, a coaching change and players transferring out of the program during this time frame.
Since taking over as head coach, Becca Morros has gone 30-34-10 missing the postseason each season. However, during the 2024 season, Arizona went 11-6-2 but missed the NCAA Tournament and showed signs of progress in comparison to the previous seasons under Morros.
Thursday night's action
Arizona lost its conference-opening match and is sitting at 5-4 after losing 1 - 0 to Iowa State in Ames this past Thursday
It was a tough defensive battle for most of the match with both teams defending the goal well, but eventually, Iowa State found an opening in the 79th minute. The Cyclones' Megan Walters found an opening in the back right corner of the goal and took advantage of Olivia Ramey's only mistake of the night.
By the end of the match, Iowa State had 11 shots compared to Arizona's eight. Six of the Cyclones' shots were on goal, while only two of the Wildcats' shots were.
Although Ramey gave up the lone goal of the night, she saved 12. She still has just one match this season where she hasn't played all 90 minutes. That was against Stanford. Ramey has also aided in her team's leading the Big 12 in saves so far this year.
Arizona had seven players on the team who played all 90 minutes of the match. Maia Brown currently leads the team with minutes played at 810.
Arizona's standing in the Big 12
Arizona will have plenty of work to do to make it to the top of the Big 12 standings, as it currently sits at No. 14 after the loss, starting it out with a 0 - 1 record in conference play.
The Cyclones are now sitting 10 spots above the Wildcats at No. 4 with a 4 - 1 - 2 record. Arizona's in-state rivals, Arizona State, are at the top of the conference with an 8 - 0 - 1 record. Kansas (7 - 0 - 2) and Houston (6 - 0 - 2) hold the No. 2 and No. 3 spots. UCF has sunk down to the fifth rank in the conference with a 6 - 1 -1 record.
Arizona will be back at Mulcahy Stadium to play UFC on Thursday, September 25, 7 p.m. (MST).
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Nathaniel Martinez and a set of shoulder pads at 7 years old. He later graduated from Pima Community College in 2023, where he began writing for the Pima Post. He is working to achieve a Bachelor’s in Mass Communication and Media Studies.