Now Reading
Bruins hold off Cats in first PAC-12 tilt
sports

From the archive: This story is more than 5 years old.

Arizona soccer

Bruins hold off Cats in first PAC-12 tilt

Wong collects third goal of season

  • Bruins midfielder #16 Sarah Killion and Wildcats defender #20 Alexa Montgomery.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comBruins midfielder #16 Sarah Killion and Wildcats defender #20 Alexa Montgomery.
  • Arizona defender #20 Alexa Montgomery sprints for the ball.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comArizona defender #20 Alexa Montgomery sprints for the ball.
  • Arizona midfielder #8 Jazmin Ponce breaks past UCLA midfielder #6 Lauren Kaskie.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comArizona midfielder #8 Jazmin Ponce breaks past UCLA midfielder #6 Lauren Kaskie.
  • Arizona goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman was busy on Sunday afternoon against the UCLA Bruins.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comArizona goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman was busy on Sunday afternoon against the UCLA Bruins.
  • Bruins forward #11 Darian Jenkins gets to a high ball ahead of Wildcats midfielder #21 Shannon Heinzler and #3 Ana-Maria Montoya.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comBruins forward #11 Darian Jenkins gets to a high ball ahead of Wildcats midfielder #21 Shannon Heinzler and #3 Ana-Maria Montoya.
  • Arizona defender #12 Mykaylin Rosenquist clears a corner kick against UCLA.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comArizona defender #12 Mykaylin Rosenquist clears a corner kick against UCLA.
  • Arizona defender Alexa Montgomery.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comArizona defender Alexa Montgomery.
  • UCLA #10 Kody Lavruski and Arizona defender #12 Mykaylin Rosenquist compete for the ball.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comUCLA #10 Kody Lavruski and Arizona defender #12 Mykaylin Rosenquist compete for the ball.
  • Arizona forward #7 Hannah Wong is congratulated by her teammates for her goal against UCLA.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comArizona forward #7 Hannah Wong is congratulated by her teammates for her goal against UCLA.
  • Arizona's Alexa Montgomery clears a header over UCLA's Kodi Lavrusky.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comArizona's Alexa Montgomery clears a header over UCLA's Kodi Lavrusky.
  • Bruins forward #14 Taylor Smith lines up a shot on the Wildcats' goal.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comBruins forward #14 Taylor Smith lines up a shot on the Wildcats' goal.
  • Arizona's Ana-Maria Montoya.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comArizona's Ana-Maria Montoya.
  • UCLA forward #14 Taylor Smith dribbles away from UA forward #7 Hannah Wong.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comUCLA forward #14 Taylor Smith dribbles away from UA forward #7 Hannah Wong.
  • Wildcat goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman takes a goal kick.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comWildcat goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman takes a goal kick.
  • UA defender #12 Mykaylin Rosenquist makes a vital slide tackle on UCLA midfielder #3 Caprice Dydasco.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comUA defender #12 Mykaylin Rosenquist makes a vital slide tackle on UCLA midfielder #3 Caprice Dydasco.
  • UCLA defender #42 Ally Courtnall fights for control of the ball with Arizona midfielder #14 Jaden DeGracie.
    Joshua Pearson/TucsonSentinel.comUCLA defender #42 Ally Courtnall fights for control of the ball with Arizona midfielder #14 Jaden DeGracie.

Yes, the University of Arizona Wildcats had a 2 -1 loss to fourth ranked UCLA on Sunday afternoon, but Coach Tony Amato didn’t see the match as a failure, far from it.

“We gave away two goals in the first half that were things that we trained for this week. We were a little disappointed in how we gave the goals up, but they have good players that can cause problems,” he said. “But overall, the girls worked hard and put in a good performance. They grabbed a goal to put them back in the game and created two or three chances in the second half that could have equalized. I think we can take a lot of positives out of the match.”

The Bruins put the first number on the scoreboard with a fifth-minute tally from Taylor Smith that beat Arizona keeper Gabby Kaufman. That started a long run of Arizona being pressed deep into their own half, with even forwards back trying to keep the Bruins from lengthening their lead.

It took nearly 20 minutes of pressure, but Taylor created a chance with a pass to Sam Mewis. The junior (and blogger) got it past a stretching Kaufman to get her third goal of the season.

Arizona managed a rare foray up the field, and Jazmin Ponce saw an open Hannah Wong. The Kiwi sophomore found the back of the net and got the Cats back into the match.

The match was a bit more even in the second half, and a lot less eventful. Arizona managed several forays up the field, causing Bruins keeper Katelyn Rowland to make saves. Neither team got on the board, however. The game ended in a 2 – 1 victory for the visitors.

The Wildcats travel to California to face 2011 NCAA champion Stanford Cardinal on Friday, which begins a long stretch of away games. Their next home match will be against Washington State on Oct 25.

On the bright side

One thing that Arizona can brag about in this match is that they were able to do what six of nine previous opponents were couldn’t: they scored on UCLA. Still, two regrettable goals were allowed in the first half, but Amato was satisfied with the adjustments the team made at halftime.

“We revisited that (our mistakes) at halftime and we did a much better job of those two things,” he said. “I think once or twice they broke down … but that’s expected.”

Amato praised the work of goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman.

“I don’t think she could have done much about the goals,” Amato said. “Everything else, she did a good job. We’ve asked her to stay connected to the back, and she’s done a good job of that. She had a couple of saves that were high that she confidently pushed over the bar. She did a nice job today.”

UCLA’s big gun this season has been Darian Jenkins. The freshman and former member of the U.S. Under-17 team had scored seven times in nine games coming in to Saturday’s match. Jenkins was limited to a single shot at the goal in her time on the field.

“Our coach told us to make sure she didn’t get anything,” said defender Mykaylin Rosenquist. “As a whole our defense we just made sure to prevent the cross and if they were attacking to keep our marks. We just stayed tight on her so she didn’t get much.”

Most important for players and coaches was that the team didn’t fall after those first half errors. The team stayed competitive and nearly equalized.

“We were able to find our groove,” said goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman after signing autographs. “It took us a little while in the first half, but we were able to get in and compete…in this game we showed people that we could compete.”

Arizona Wildcats v UCLA Bruins

Mulcahy Stadium

Scoring summary
UCLA – Taylor Smith (5’)
UCLA – Sam Mewis (32’)
ARIZ – Hannah Wong (38’)
Misconduct summary
ARIZ – Kaitlyn López (caution, 24’)
ARIZ – Hannah Stevens (caution, 81’)
Starting line-ups
Arizona Wildcats: Gabby Kaufman – Sheaffer Skadsen, Mykaylin Rosenquist, Alexa Montgomery, Shannon Heinzler – Hayley Estopare, Ana-Maria Montoya - Ali Doller, Kaitlyn López, Jazmin Ponce, Jaden DeGracie
UCLA Bruins: Katelyn Rowland – Caprice Dydasco, Megan Oyster, Gabbi Miranda, Ally Courtnall – Jenna Richmond, Killion Sarah, Sam Mewis – Darian Jenkins, Rosie White, Taylor Smith

PAC-12 Standings

TeamGPPtsGFGA
Stanford132(0)
UCLA1321
Washington1111
Oregon State1111
Washington State11(0)(0)
California11(0)(0)
Utah11(0)(0)
Oregon11(0)(0)
Arizona State(0)(0)(0)(0)
USC(0)(0)(0)(0)
Arizona1(0)12
Colorado1(0)(0)2

Filed under

sports, soccer, college, breaking,

— 30 —

Top headlines

Best in Internet Exploder