The Arizona Wildcats have several interesting twists to the schedule released on Thursday afternoon. One is a visit by powerhouse North Carolina as part of the three-game Cactus Classic. The other is a neutral-site game against LSU to be held at Arizona State.
The matches against the Tar Heels and Tigers are two of eight nonconference
games and one exhibition that will kick off on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Big 12 play starts on Friday, Sept. 18. The Big 12 schedule was announced back in February.
The entire regular season schedule consists of 19 matches with nine played at Mulcahy Soccer Stadium. Seven opponents made last year’s NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats’ only exhibition this year will be on the road at UC Irvine. That match will be played on Wednesday, Aug. 5.
A week later, things start for real. Arizona will travel up I-10 to play GCU in the season opener. The two teams have faced each other every year since 2021. This will be the fourth time the game will be played at GCU Soccer Stadium. The Wildcats are 3-1-1 against the Lopes including a 5-2 win in Tucson last season.
GCU finished 8-8-2 last season. The Lopes were 3-5-2 in Mountain West play.
The Wildcats have their home opener on Saturday, Aug. 15 when New Mexico State comes to town. It will be the fourth matchup between the two squads. The most recent was last year’s 2-0 Arizona win in Las Cruces.
The Aggies went 2-12-4 overall in 2025. They were 1-3-4 in Conference USA.
Arizona heads back out on the road to play Gonzaga on Thursday, Aug. 20. The two teams have played three times. The Bulldogs are 2-1 in those matches, including winning the last game in 2023. That match was also held in Spokane.
The Bulldogs were 8-9-2 overall last season. They finished 6-3-2 in their final season in the WCC. They will join the reconstituted Pac-12 beginning this year.
Arizona gets a 10-day break after the trip to the Pacific Northwest. The Wildcats return to their home state for the first matchup against a 2025 NCAA Tournament team. It won’t be in Tucson, though.
The Wildcats face LSU in Tempe at Sun Devil Soccer Stadium on Sunday, Aug. 30. It will be just the second match between the two. The Tigers won the first head-to-head matchup by the score of 2-0 back in the fall of 2021. That was Moros’ first season at the helm.
LSU is coming off a 15-6-4 season. It went 5-2-3 in the SEC. The Tigers got to the postseason where they lost to Vanderbilt in the Sweet Sixteen.
Arizona is packing the three games from Thursday, Sept. 3 through Thursday, Sept. 10 as the Cactus Classic. It will host North Carolina, Dartmouth, and NAU over that span.
The match against UNC on Sept. 3 is the return game from a home-and-away that started in 2024. Arizona traveled to Chapel Hill. UA goalkeeper Olivia Ramey had a strong showing in a 2-0 loss to the Tar Heels. It was the first ever match between the two programs.
UNC is a perennial power in the sport of women’s soccer. It has been to every NCAA postseason since 1982. It has 22 national titles, the last of which came the year Arizona traveled to Chapel Hill. It has an additional six runners-up finishes.
The Tar Heels went 13-6-2 last season and finished 6-4-0 in the ACC. They fell to TCU on penalty kicks in the Sweet Sixteen. That came after they defeated Texas Tech on PKs in the second round.
The second match of the Cactus Classic comes on Sunday, Sept. 6 against Dartmouth. It will be the first ever matchup between the two programs.
The Big Green were 11-4-4 overall last season. They went 4-1-2 in Ivy League play before being eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament by Arkansas.
Arizona’s second in-state opponent of the season will be NAU. The Lumberjacks come to town on Thursday, Sept. 10 for the final Cactus Classic match.
It will be the 11th meeting between the two sides. Arizona is 9-0-2 in those matches. The last meeting was a 1-0 Wildcat win in Flagstaff last season. NAU went 6-6-7 overall and 2-3-3 in the Big Sky last year. Their season ended in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
The Wildcats go back on the road to play Pepperdine on Sunday, Sept. 13 in the final nonconference match. The two teams have played 11 times. The Waves hold a 1-9-1 advantage in the series. The lone loss to Arizona came last season in Tucson. The two teams played to a tie in Malibu in 2024.
The Waves went 11-7-2 overall last season. They were 8-2-1 in the WCC. Their season ended in a 1-0 loss to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Arizona’s Big 12 season starts at home against BYU on Friday, Sept. 18.
The Wildcats will be trying to rebound from a down season last year and make the first NCAA Tournament under Becca Moros. They will also hope to make it back to the Big 12 Tournament after getting there in 2024 but missing out in 2025.
