Arizona Opens NCAA Tourney At Oklahoma State
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Stillwater, Okla. - 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 Cowgirls. The match will take place on Friday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m. MST at the Cowgirl Soccer Complex in Stillwater, Okla.
The Wildcats faced Oklahoma State for the first time in program history 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.
After opening the year 0-6, OSU went 10-3-1 the rest of the way, along the way finishing second in the Big 12 Conference standings with a 5-2-1 league mark. The Cowgirls have scored 22 goals on the season and allowed 25. Allie Stephenson leads the team with six goals and she is tied for the leader on the team with three assists. Rosa Medina has played every minute of every game for the Cowgirls this season, posting six shutouts. OSU has made it to the NCAA Tournament for the second-straight year and eight times in the last 10 years. Overall, it is the ninth berth in program history.
The NCAA announced the 64-team field for the NCAA Women’s Soccer College Cup on Monday afternoon. The Pac-12 Conference had nine teams make it into the tournament, UCLA, USC, Arizona State, Colorado, California, Washington, Stanford, Washington State and the Arizona Wildcats. Also, it is the first time in College Cup history that all three teams from Arizona made it to the tournament, Northern Arizona qualified as well. Along with the eight Pac-12 schools that Arizona played, the Wildcats also played Oklahoma State, Northern Arizona, Texas A&M and Florida Gulf Coast.
For the Wildcats, ten student-athletes have scored 32 goals on the year. Those 32 goals are the sixth-best total among Pac-12 schools thus far. Senior forward Alexandra Doller has scored six goals for the Wildcats and she is second on the team in shot attempts as well (64). That is tied for the sixth-best total in the conference this season and she averages 3.37 shots per game. Paige Crouch has pumped in two goals this year. Crouch is a sophomore that has returned to action after missing nearly all of 2013 with a knee injury. Doller assisted on Crouch’s first goal and also assisted on junior Kaitlyn Lopez’s first goal of the season, coming against Idaho. Freshman Charlotte Brascia, junior Hayley Estopare, junior Lexe Selman, have each contributed goals to the Wildcats. Senior LeeAndra Smith has taken two shots on the season and it was the game-winning goal against NAU in the home-opening match. Freshman Gabi Stoian has scored 13 goals for the Wildcats, the third-best total in the Pac-12. Stoian has also tallied seven assists this year, which is tied for the No. 3 mark in the conference. Stoian has racked up 33 points for Arizona (goals are worth two, assists worth one) for an average of 1.74 points per game. Both of those marks are No. 2 in the Pac-12. Stoian’s points per game average is tied for the 26th-best mark in the NCAA.
On the defensive side, the Wildcats’ experienced group of defenders in front of senior goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman has been very effective thus far. The Wildcats have a goal differential of +5, surrendering 27 goals. Junior Sheaffer Skadsen, senior Mykaylin Rosenquist, junior Alexa Montgomery and sophomore Laura Pimienta combine to make-up the starting back four for the Wildcats. The team effort defensively has led to six shutouts in those 18 matches for Kaufman. Kaufman’s six shutouts are tied for the seventh-best total in the conference. Skadsen has scored two goals on the season, converting both attempts she has had at the penalty spot. Rosenquist pumped in her first goal of the season in the match against Washington State, Arizona’s fourth and final goal of the match.
The depth of Arizona has been on display throughout each match of the season, no less than 17 student-athletes have played in each match. In total, 22 student-athletes overall have gotten time on the pitch for the Wildcats.
On Sept. 8, Gabi Stoian was named Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week for her work in the matches against No. 6 Texas A&M and Oklahoma State. She tallied two assists and three goals, contributing to all five goals the Wildcats scored over the weekend. Stoian was also named College Sports 360 National Primetime Player of the Week on Sept. 8 for her accomplishments.
Goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman began the season tied for fourth place in school history with nine shutouts for her career. She has recorded six this season in the first 11 matches bringing her total to 15, the second-highest tally in UA history. Kaufman’s six shutouts on the season are tied for the No. 3 mark in program history as well. Gabi Stoian is one of only six athletes in school history to record a hat trick in a match, the last coming in 2005, courtesy of Mallory Miller. Her 13 goals on the year are already tied for the second-best mark in program history for goals in a season. She has tallied 33 points on the season, the second-best total in UA history. Stoian’s seven assists this season rank as the third-best total in school history.
Arizona was unable to beat Arizona State for a second-straight year on Friday, Nov. 7 after the 2-0 victory for the Wildcats in 2013. The Wildcats conceded a goal at the 20:45 mark when ASU’s right fullback made a run towards the goal that was not marked. She received a ball and finished the play with shot into the upper right corner of the goal. Arizona created multiple chances on the day but could not convert. Kaitlyn Lopez had a shot that had to be taken off the goal line. Alexa Montgomery’s shot forced ASU’s goalkeeper to make a diving save that she had to parry out of play. With under a minute left to play, Lexe Selman had a clear one-time shot in the middle of the 18-yard box that missed wide. Seconds later, Charlotte Brascia received a ball alone inside the 18-yard box, she turned and took a volley shot but that rocket of a shot went directly to the keeper.
A complete recap and box score will be available at ArizonaWildcats.com after the match. Also follow @ArizonaWSoccer on Twitter for live updates. Oklahoma State will be providing a live webcast of the match.