It’s been the story of the season for Arizona soccer, especially since Big 12 play started. The Wildcats once again put in a solid defensive effort but could get nothing going on the offensive end in a 1-0
loss to No. 22 Colorado.
Arizona head coach Becca Moros once again used an unusual lineup, putting defender Ella Hatteberg in at forward. Hatteberg was injured against Texas Tech last Sunday. The senior co-captain had to get six stitches after taking an elbow to the mouth, and Moros has put her up front since then to avoid the physicality of defending. Whether that works for a team desperately in need of scoring is open to debate.
While the Wildcats only officially put two of their 12 shots on goal, they had several quality chances that went just wide of the goal. They just couldn’t straighten any of them out.
Arizona actually outshot the Buffaloes 12-11, but the Buffs put six of their shots on goal. Arizona also had more corner kicks with five against CU’s four. The most dangerous came at the end of the first half when Lily Boydstun won the corner with about 30 seconds to go, then served a ball to Whitney Reinhardt. The header was just off target.
The defense held Colorado to a single goal, which came in the 27th minute, but Arizona has only scored six goals in 10 Big 12 matches this season. Half of them came against Oklahoma State, which has yet to win a Big 12 match.
As has been the case many times this season, the Wildcats were aggressive in the opening and closing minutes of each half, but seemed to fall back for much of the middle part. Colorado got going and Arizona didn’t really press the issue until it had to.
With only 1.5 matches to go and the team essentially out of the hunt to even make the conference tournament, Moros decided to make a change in goal. Sophomore keeper Sofia Cortes-Browne took over for senior starter Olivia Ramey.
Cortes-Browne acquitted herself well, although on a few occasions, she let the Buffs get dangerously close to taking the ball from her right in front of the goal. She didn’t panic and eventually got it to her teammates, but it was a bit close for comfort a couple of times.
Colorado’s goal came on a long serve into the box. Ramey deflected the first shot, but there was no one there to save the second.
After halftime, Moros told the Colorado broadcasting crew that second balls have been a focus for Arizona.
“We have to be really good on those second balls,“ she said.
It has been a problem for Arizona on several occasions this season. The keeper can’t control the ball after a diving save, so the opponent has no resistance for the second shot.
Ultimately, though, the problem once again came down to offense. Arizona lost two players who accounted for eight goals each last season. At the beginning of the year, Moros said that they would get goals from a variety of places instead of relying heavily on one or two players, but it hasn’t worked out that way.
Last year, Arizona outscored opponents 32-17 and scored 1.68 goals per game. In conference play, the Wildcats outscored opponents 15-12. They held opponents to 0.68 goals per match overall and 1.09 in league play.
With one match left, the Wildcats have been outscored 28-22 this season. In the Big 12, that’s 14-6 in favor of opponents. They’ve allowed 1.40 goals per match in conference play and 1.56 overall. They have scored 1.22 goals per match overall and 0.60 against Big 12 competition.
Arizona returns home to close out the season against ASU on Thursday, Oct. 30. Both teams are likely to be playing for pride, since they will not make the Big 12 Tournament. Arizona sits in 14th with six points and has been eliminated.
ASU is one spot out in 9th place, but the Sun Devils only have 11 points. UCF and Kansas are tied for 8th with 16 points each.
The Sun Devils must defeat No. 9 TCU on Sunday afternoon then defeat Arizona next week. They also need UCF to lose to BYU on Monday and again to No. 5 Texas Tech next week. The Knights hold the tiebreaker via a head-to-head win.
Kansas led Utah 1-0 in the 77th minute on Sunday. A win would secure a Big 12 Tournament berth for the Jayhawks. They did not play the Sun Devils this regular season. They close out the season against Colorado.
