UA Beats Idaho 3-0, Fourth-Straight Win

Tucson, Ariz. - The University of Arizona Wildcat soccer team hosted the Idaho Vandals for their final non-conference match of the season on Sunday. The game took place on Murphey Field at Mulcahy Stadium. Arizona’s fourth-straight victory came off a 3-0 score with goals from senior Alexandra Doller (two) and junior Kaitlyn Lopez. Senior goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman tallied her fourth shutout of the season. Arizona enters Pac-12 play with a 6-1-1 record, 4-0 at Mulcahy Stadium.

“I thought we did well today,” head coach Tony Amato said. “We wanted to make sure we upped our performance from Friday night, especially in areas like winning balls, covering lots of ground and doing some of the little things we know we’re good at. I thought we executed in terms of creating enough chances, we finished off three of them, created a bunch of opportunities, got a shutout, so overall we feel really good about the performance today.”

Early in the match Arizona set the tone, Lopez was aggressive on the right wing, going at her defender in one-on-one situations and beating her. She sent in an early cross that found Doller but the keeper hauled it in. Freshman Gabi Stoian, always aggressive in attack, took on her defender and got kicked in the shin, drawing a foul. Off the ensuing free kick, Stoian’s ball found the head of Doller and she headed it back into the goal at the 6:19 mark. That was Doller’s third goal of the season and Stoian’s fourth assist.

Junior midfielder Hayley Estopare got in on the attack as well. She rattled the cross bar on a shot that ended up at her feet from a corner kick. Within minutes Arizona had another great attacking sequence, Doller passed to junior Lexe Selman, Selman gave it right back to Doller. Doller’s left-footed shot was inches wide of the goal. Senior midfielder Julia Glanz came on in the first half and did a great job of winning balls for the Wildcats and keeping possession. She also had a great sequence in the attack; her left-footed shot into the right corner was saved out of bounds. On the ensuing corner kick from junior Hannah Wong, Glanz’s header hit the post.

In the first half, Arizona tallied 18 shots and four were on target. The Wildcats won five corner kicks and were called offside on one occasion. Arizona committed five fouls to Idaho’s three fouls. The Vandals only had three shots and Kaufman saved all of them. Arizona did not concede a corner kick in the first 45 minutes.

In the second half, Arizona picked up right where they left off, dominating possession and getting all the attacking opportunities. The first goal of the half came from the head of Doller once again. The 5-4 senior headed in her fourth goal of the season off a pass from sophomore Paige Crouch. It marked Crouch’s first assist on the year. That goal came at the 54:47 mark. At the 57:30 mark, Doller assisted on her second goal of the season and it was a beauty. Lopez passed to Doller; Doller gave it back via a cheeky back-heel pass. Lopez was free inside the 18-yard box and buried it. It was Lopez’s first goal of the season.

“I think the team did really well today,” Doller said. “We worked really hard and we kept playing and kept going, eventually we got three goals, which was good. The weather always affects you, it’s so hot outside today, but you just have to deal with it. The other team has to deal with it too. Our team keeps figuring out how to win, no matter what.”

Later in the half, in the 83rd minute, junior Lexe Selman fired a shot right around the 18-yard box that squared the crossbar. The rebound quickly found Glanz but she was unable to control it and her rebound header sailed high over the goal.

Kaufman’s fourth shutout on the year marks her 13th over the course of her career. She has the second-best total in program history; the school record is 20, set by McCall Smith in 2004-05. Kaufman had to make four saves overall, only one in the second half.

“We emphasize defense a lot,” Amato said. “We train it a lot, we take pride in one-on-one defending. There have been some opponents this year who have told us we’re as good as they’ve played against in one-on-one defending. We’re going to keep emphasizing that, it’s an overall group effort but you have to win one-on-one battles defensively. I think the girls have done a great job of getting better at that and carrying that out in the games.”

Arizona totaled 35 shots in the game, 18 in the first half and 17 in the second. Of those 35 shots, 11 were on target. The Wildcats committed 15 fouls and were offside on three occasions. Arizona won eight corner kicks.

Idaho had seven shots in total, four of which were on target. They committed six fouls and won two corner kicks.

“It’s always different on Sunday coming off a Friday game,” Amato said. “Kickoff at noon with the sun out and blazing, it’s always a factor. But, we play a lot of people to compensate for that. A lot of players have roles on this team where they can play, even if it’s in 10-minute spells. We play 20 to 22 players every game and that’s where we have an advantage on Sunday.”

The Wildcats will return to action on Friday at 2 p.m. MST against No. 15 USC. The Wildcats first Pac-12 match of the season will take place on Murphey Field at Mulcahy Stadium.

For continued coverage of Arizona Wildcat soccer, visit ArizonaWildcats.com and follow @ArizonaWSoccer on Twitter.