Arizona Tops UC Davis on Brilliant Baytosh Goal
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Wildcats recorded their third win of the season with a 1-0 triumph against the UC Davis Aggies on Sunday. Arizona scored in the first half off a spectacular goal by freshman Sami Baytosh as the team improved to 3-2-2 on the year.
The goal was perfectly assisted by freshman Angela Baron, the first college point of her career, with a deep cross from just over the midfield line. For Baytosh, it was her second goal on the season and had been viewed over 100,000 times on social media just hours after the match.
WATCH: Brilliant Baytosh Goal
Baytosh's goal was something you had to see to believe. It came in the 36th minute of the match after the two teams battled to get any shots off in the early portion of the game. Angela Baron saw a break in the Aggies defense as she crossed midfield, took a touch and lit it fly into the box. Baytosh was breaking for the ball with a defender on her hip when and her first touch on the ball was remarkable, managing to juggle the ball straight up in the air while falling to her back. What happened next was simply amazing, as Baytosh volleyed her first touch with an version of a bicycle kick while on the ground that flew just over the keeper and into the back of the net.
"I got the cross and me and the defender fell on top of each other," Baytosh said afterwards. "I saw the goalkeeper out and just popped it up and over her."
Arizona's defense played a big role in the victory over UC Davis. They managed to only allow six shots all game, with three of them being on goal. On top of that, the Wildcats fended off all 11 corner kicks the Aggies were awarded.
UA goalkeeper Hope Hisey picked up the 16th shutout of her career, which is tied for third-most in Arizona history with Gabby Kaufman (2012-14), and second of the season. Her three saves on the day give her 252 in her career, good for sixth in Arizona history, just one behind Shannon Monti (1998-2001) for fifth place on the career list.
The next match for the Wildcats is Friday, Sept. 23 at Utah to open Pac-12 play, with kickoff scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Pacific. Arizona will return home to take on Stanford on Sept. 29. Tickets can be purchased online in advance for as low as $5.
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