Going into this week’s games in the Bay Area, no one expected Arizona soccer to come out 2-0—not when they were facing No. 1 Stanford to start the road trip. A respectable loss to the Cardinal would show that the Wildcats were on the right track, though. Instead, they suffered their worst loss since losing 6-0 to No. 1 UCLA in 2014.
It was especially disconcerting given some of the results from other Big 12 teams early in the season. Last week, both UCF and Houston had upsets. While Arizona was struggling
mightily with No. 1 Stanford on Thursday night, Kansas was playing No. 2 Florida State to a 1-1 draw.
The Wildcats opened the match with a little bit of fire. They earned their first corner kick in the third minute. Kennedy Fletcher got a solid shot off the set piece, but Stanford’s goalkeeper Caroline Birkel was up to the task. When Lily Boydstun shot the ball late in the fourth minute, Arizona was up 2-0 in shots.
It didn’t last long. Stanford’s first shot came in the seventh minute. Jasmine Aikey made it count, putting the Cardinal up 1-0 early in the match. In the 13th minute, Charlotte Kohler extended the lead to 2-0. In the 17th minute, Shae Harvey continued the onslaught and gave Stanford the 3-0 lead.
Stanford controlled possession after the early minutes. Arizona especially struggled in the midfield. As they tried to build from the back, the Wildcats were regularly dispossessed around the half line. They didn’t have much more luck when they went with a more direct style.
The Wildcats earned a few opportunities after falling behind by three. One came off a strong run up the right side by freshman Kyleigh Johnson late in the first half. They seemed to regroup early in the second half and put a bit of pressure on the Stanford defense. They either failed to get off shots or they just weren’t strong enough to get by Birkel.
Up Next for Arizona Soccer
Arizona Wildcats (3-1) @ California Golden Bears (2-1-2)
When: Sunday, Aug. 31 @ 1 p.m. MST
Where: Edwards Stadium in Berkeley, Calif.
Streaming: ACCNx
Stats: Cal Live Stats
Just as they had in the first half, the Cardinal responded to Arizona’s early energy with two quick goals to squelch it. Kohler got her second in the 58th minute. Aikey followed with her second in the 60th minute. The sixth and final goal came in the 71st minute.
The final goal was superfluous, but it had its own drama. For the second time in the match, the referee reviewed an offsides call on a Cardinal goal. The first time, the call was upheld and Stanford didn’t get the score. The second time, the call was overturned, giving the Cardinal their sixth goal of the match.
The use of replay in women’s college soccer is not widespread. In the past, it was done purely at the discretion of the officials. It was reported in April of this year that the NCAA had approved the use of optional coaches’ challenges on an experimental basis, but that would only occur during conference play. In this case, the initiation of review would have to come from the officials.
Both Stanford and Arizona made several substitutions after the sixth goal. For the Wildcats, the most significant was subbing sophomore goalkeeper Sofia Cortes-Browne for senior Olivia Ramey. Ramey and defender Maia Brown were the only two players to have played all 270 minutes in Arizona’s first three matches, but with things out of control, head coach Becca Moros had a chance to get Cortes-Browne some time.
The sophomore keeper acquitted herself well. Cortes-Browne made three saves without surrendering a goal. They were three of 11 saves made by the Arizona keepers. Ramey made eight saves and gave up six goals.
Stanford outshot Arizona 32-6. The Cardinal put 17 of their 36 shots on goal compared to one for Arizona. They also amassed 15 corner kicks compared to one for the Wildcats.
Arizona will try to salvage a road split when it visits California on Sunday.
