Tempe, Ariz. - The University of Arizona Wildcat soccer team faced No. 6 Texas A&M on Friday evening as part of the Sun Devil Classic this weekend in Tempe, Ariz. In the first-ever meeting between the two schools, Arizona played the Aggies to a draw, 2-2. The Wildcats moved to 2-1-1 on the season and Texas A&M is now 4-0-1.
“There's no question, we are pleased with the performance of the team tonight,” head coach Tony Amato. “Regardless of how the game ended, whether we won, lost or drew, we were proud of their performance. They worked extremely hard, they battled, they grinded and they scored two really good goals. The team showed they can compete at that high level and we feel good about it.”
The Aggies of Texas A&M had more offensive chances in the first half, taking 14 shots and six of them on target. However, Arizona struck first from the right foot of freshman Gabi Stoian. At the 37:06 mark, Stoian ripped one from the left side and top of the box, hitting the upper corner of the goal and putting Arizona ahead 1-0. It was Stoian's first goal of the season for the Wildcats. The Wildcats tallied six of their own shots and three of them were on target. Three of those shots came from Stoian (two on target), the others came from Alexandra Doller, Haley Silverberg and Kaitlyn Lopez. Senior goalkeeper Gabby Kaufman was up to the task for all but one of Texas A&M's shots. Bianca Brinson flicked the ball by Kaufman off a cross from Annie Kunz at the 42:52 point of the first half to tie the game.
Arizona and Texas A&M each committed three fouls in the first half. The Wildcats won one corner kick and were called offside on one occasion. The Aggies won two corners.
In the second half, the Wildcats were the aggressors and they struck first again. On a set piece, Stoian assisted on her second goal of the year, this time finding the head of junior Hayley Estopare who beat the keeper to the ball and scored for the Wildcats at the 83:46 mark. But, once again the Aggies equalized. At the 89:27 mark, Kelley Monogue assisted Brinson on another goal to bring the Aggies level. In the second period, Arizona outshot the Aggies 7-4. Four shots were on target for Arizona and three for Texas A&M. The Wildcats also won three corner kicks.
“We have a plan going into every game,” Amato said. “Our plan going into tonight was focused around their five attacking players that are really good. The plan centered around having to defend those players. The players who were assigned to those roles carried it out at a high level and that's why we were able to get a favorable result tonight.”
In the first portion of extra time, sophomore Paige Crouch fired a shot that was blocked by the A&M defense. After that, it was all Aggies on the attack. They had a shot hit the crossbar, a shot sail high over the goal and two others saved by Kaufman. At the very start of the second extra time period, a yellow card was assessed to Liz Keester of Texas A&M. Silverberg ripped a shot wide of the target shortly after. Kaufman made another save that led to an Aggie corner kick but nothing came of it. Arizona had a shot from Doller go wide and won two corner kicks in the final two minutes but they couldn't capitalize.
Arizona totaled 16 shots and seven were on target. They committed eight fouls, were called offside three times and won six corner kicks. Kaufman was outstanding for the Wildcats, making 11 saves. Sophomore Hannah Stevens was given a yellow card at the 86:08 point in the second half. Texas A&M had 24 total shots and 13 were on target. The Aggies committed seven fouls and won five corner kicks.
“Gabby was great tonight,” Amato said. “Gabby was up to the task tonight. She knew she was going to have to make some saves against them. She did a nice job when she was called upon, she was excellent.”
The Wildcats return to action on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. MST versus Oklahoma State.
“We set the bar tonight,” Amato said. “That's the effort our team needs to put in. It's always hard to have an emotional game like that and put a lot of energy into it. I know our girls are capable of bouncing back and they are going to have to. Oklahoma State's got some very good players, they've had some results go against them and they are looking for a win. We know it's going to take a lot to bounce back. We're doing a lot of recovery, we're taking care of bodies and making sure we're in the right mindset to get a great result on Sunday.”
For continued coverage of Arizona Wildcat soccer, visit ArizonaWildcats.com and follow @ArizonaWSoccer on Twitter.
