Women’s Soccer Lands Spot In NCAA Tournament

Tucson, Ariz. - The University of Arizona Wildcat soccer team was selected in the field of 64 teams to play in the NCAA Tournament, it was announced on Monday. The Wildcats’ first round matchup will be against the Oklahoma State Cowboys. The match will take play on Friday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. MST at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex in Stillwater, Okla.

The Wildcats boast a 10-7-2 (4-6-1 Pac-12) record on the season while Oklahoma State has a record of 10-9-1 (5-2-1 Big-12). It is the third trip to the NCAA Tournament in Arizona soccer’s 20-year history. The other two trips were in 2004, where the Wildcats had a first round exit, and 2005, when the team made it to the Sweet 16.

“If you think about it, it’s really great,” head coach Tony Amato said. “There are only 33 at-large bids and we are one of them. We’re playing somebody we have already faced this year, we have video, we know what to expect. We’ll be able to come up with a good game plan and we will carry that out.”

The Wildcats faced Oklahoma State on Sunday, Sept. 7 as part of the Sun Devil Classic in Tempe, Ariz. Arizona allowed only eight shots over the course of the match and the only shot on target was a converted penalty kick by the Cowboys. Trailing 1-0 with only seven minutes remaining, the Wildcats leaned on freshman Gabi Stoian. She assisted sophomore Lexe Selman who scored at the 83:58 mark. Stoian then scored on a set piece with her left foot at the 85:16 mark. Lastly, before the game ended, Stoian went coast-to-coast to score for Arizona with only 18 seconds left in the game. Arizona went on to win 3-1.

Should Arizona win, they will face the winner of Texas A&M and Houston Baptist on Friday, Nov. 21. 

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