TUCSON, Ariz. – The University of Arizona women's soccer team will host the UC Irvine Anteaters on Friday, August 25th at 7 p.m. MST in Tucson, Ariz. at Mulcahy Soccer Stadium. The two teams have played twice before, last time seeing UCI defeat Arizona 2-1 on August 23rd, 2009. UCI opened their 2017 season with a 2-1 loss at California. The team has been picked to finish fourth in the Big West conference.
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.
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 standings after capping off the season with a two-game winning 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.
Exhibition Recap
On Aug. 11, the Wildcats controlled the game early and defeated the Grand Canyon University Lopes by a score of 3-0 in their first exhibition match of the season. Charlotte Brascia, Amanda Porter and Cali Crisler scored Arizona's goals. On Aug. 13, Arizona defeated the UTEP Miners 2-1 in their second exhibition match. The goals were produced for the Wildcats by Porter and Crisler. Kennedy Kieneker and Porter each had an assist. On Aug. 21, Arizona blanked Beijing Normal with a score of 7-0. Dana Dalton earned a hat trick in the match, scoring in the 65', 76', and 80'.
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 a shutout at Oklahoma and now has 11 for her career. The junior is currently ninth all-time in Arizona history with 111 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).
Newcomers Galore
Head coach Tony Amato signed seven new players for 2017: Amanda Porter, Bryanna Duckett, Hannah and Hailey Clifford, Sabrina Enciso, Jada Talley and Taryn Siegele. Amato has shown that he is not afraid to put freshmen on the pitch as last year's class of 11 combined to play in 90 games with three of them playing in at least 18 games. Porter scored a pair of goals last weekend and earned two assists Friday, while Enciso played all 90 minutes against OU.
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