by Adam Gonzales
The 2015 edition of Arizona women's soccer was one for the ages. The squad finished with a record of 14-6-2, which is remarkable if you look at Arizona's record just in 2011 (1-16-2). Head coach Tony Amato and assistants Paul Nagy and Kylie Louw have instilled a mindset that the Arizona women's soccer program is a force to be reckoned with as they advanced all the way to the Round of 16 for just the second time in school history.
“The standard now is making a run in the NCAA Tournament,” head coach Tony Amato said to the team in the locker room following the loss to Stanford in the Round of 16 of the NCAA Tournament.
Making the tournament did not even cross the mind of some of the players on the team just a few years ago, but since Amato, Nagy and Louw came to Tucson, the Wildcats have made the tournament the last two seasons.
This year's team set a plethora of records. The Wildcats finished tied for the least amount of losses in one season (six), tied for the most conference wins (six), finished with the most assists in one season (37), which also topped the Pac-12, had 15 players score a goal, and had the highest average home attendance of all time (917).
The Wildcats also finished the season with 111 points, which is the most in Arizona history. Additionally, a 20-year record was broken this season as Arizona scored in 14 consecutive games from September 18 to November 19.
It was clearly a special year with all the records that were set, and the rest of the conference recognized it as Arizona had three players win Pac-12 Player of the Week. Gabi Stoian, Lainey Burdett and Sheaffer Skadsen all earned the honor this season. At the end of the season, Stoian was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team and Skadsen earned Honorable Mention honors.
Not only did the Wildcats get it done on the pitch this season, they also consistently got it done in the classroom as well. Skadsen and Jaden DeGracie were named to the Pac-12 All-Academic First Team while Lexe Selman was named to the Second Team. Eight other Wildcats also earned All-Academic honors from the Pac-12 as well. Cece Bilginer, Cali Crisler, Hayley Estopare, Laura Pimienta, Haley Silverberg, Hannah Stevens, Stoian and Hannah Wong all earned honorable mention accolades.
Skadsen cleaned up on the academic honors as she was named Pac-12 Scholar Athlete of the Year and was named a CoSIDA Academic All-American, along with being named to the District 8 CoSIDA All-District First Team. DeGracie was also named to the First Team and Stoian was named to the Second Team.
Training started on Aug. 5 and like all programs, the team had to overcome some adversity, but the Wildcats were facing it before any matches had been played. Senior attacker Kaitlyn Lopez went down with a leg injury during the Red-Blue scrimmage, which forced her to miss the first six matches of the season. Lopez had started 14 matches in the 2014 season, so she figured to play an important role in 2015. Stoian also went down with an injury in the scrimmage and forced her to miss some key training sessions.
On Aug. 15, the Wildcats traveled to Provo, Utah to face a good BYU program who was ranked No. 19 at the time in an exhibition match. Arizona ended up falling to the Cougars by a score of 3-2, but the Wildcats put up a good showing the first time they took the pitch together in 2015.
The regular season began on Aug. 21 when Arizona welcomed Abilene Christian in front of a crowd of 1,086, which at the time was the second-largest crowd in Arizona history. The Wildcats won with ease thanks to a brace by Stoian and goals by Crisler and Hayley Estopare. However, the Wildcats didn't leave the pitch unharmed as both Selman and Crisler went down with serious injuries. Selman suffered a torn ACL just 12 minutes into the match and Crisler suffered a leg injury on her goal that kept her out for the next seven matches.
The season had to go on though as Santa Clara came to town and posed a serious threat to the Wildcats. The Broncos took an early lead as they scored in the second minute, but Stoian scored a penalty kick about 30 minutes later to tie it up. Bilginer then came up big in the 69th minute as she scored the game-winning goal on a breakaway off a pass from Charlotte Brascia. Stoian was awarded Pac-12 Offensive Player of the Week after scoring three goals and collecting an assist as well in the two matches.
Arizona would go on to win their next three matches against NAU, San Diego State and Stephen F. Austin in the next couple of weeks, making their record 5-0, which is the best start in school history. Stoian scored two more goals in those three games and it looked like she was going to have another incredible year for the Wildcats.
On the weekend of Sept. 11, Arizona welcomed No. 22 Arizona State, No. 18 Texas Tech and No. 14 Pepperdine for the Arizona Cats Classic. Arizona's first match came against Texas Tech, and it was a thrilling match. The Wildcats found themselves in a hole early as Maddy Crabtree gave the Red Raiders a 1-0 lead and Arizona struggled to score for the next 70 minutes or so. With about five minutes remaining, Skadsen left her defensive position to come join the attack, and she went on to score the equalizer in the 89th minute. Neither team found the back of the net in overtime and the match ended in a tie.
Two days later, Arizona faced Pepperdine on a stormy afternoon. The Waves took the lead at the beginning of halftime and from then on, Arizona was attacking with all their might. However, with 11 minutes remaining in the match and the score still at 1-0, the teams were forced to leave the pitch due to lightning. After about an hour long delay, it was determined that the match could not go on, which resulted in Arizona's first defeat of the season.
The Wildcats regrouped and traveled to Riverside, Calif. and defeated UC Riverside 2-1 in an overtime match. Stoian scored the game-winner in the 94th minute to put it away.
Sept. 23 was a big day in Arizona history because the Wildcats were ranked in the top 25 for the first time since 2004. The NSCAA had Arizona as the No. 25 team in the nation as they welcomed No. 21 Washington for the Pac-12 opener. The Wildcats would go on to defeat Washington by a score of 1-0 off a DeGracie goal in the 52nd minute. Skadsen was also awarded Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week as she led the defense to a clean sheet.
The Bay Area schools then came to Tucson and would prove to be a big challenge for the Wildcats. The defense was in good form though as they had only allowed four goals in the first nine matches of the season, which is the fewest an Arizona team had allowed in the first nine matches of a season since 2004.
Arizona, who was now ranked No. 17, went on to keep another clean sheet on Friday and defeated No. 23 Cal by a score of 1-0. Stevens scored the game-winner in the 71st minute and Rachel Estopare finished with a career-high eight saves.
Fifth-ranked Stanford then came to Tucson that Sunday, and the two squads put on a show for the fans. DeGracie put the Wildcats on top in the 21st minute with her second goal of the year, but then Stanford responded with two goals in the next 10 minutes to take the lead. Stoian scored her sixth goal of the season to tie it up in the 71st minute and the match went to overtime. Stanford scored in the second half of overtime, and went on to win by a score of 3-2.
The Wildcats hit a bump in the road as they traveled to the L.A. schools and dropped both matches. UCLA won by a score of 5-1 and USC won 3-1, and things would not get any easier for Arizona.
The next week, Arizona was scheduled to travel to Pullman, Wash. to face the 16th-ranked Washington State Cougars in a one-game road trip. Jessica Nelson scored for Arizona in the 36th minute off a header, which would prove to be enough to give Arizona the victory. Burdett finished the match with a career-high nine saves and earned Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week as well.
Oregon and Oregon State came to town next, and the Wildcats were in need of a sweep as the Oregon schools were both at the bottom of the Pac-12 standings. After both teams struggled to score in the first 40 minutes, Paige Crouch broke the seal in the 43rd minute as she put Arizona up 1-0. However, Oregon then scored with 13 seconds left in the half to tie it up. The match was looking like it was heading for overtime, but Silverberg scored one of the best goals of the year in the 88th minute to win it. The ball was cleared by Oregon, and Silverberg came up and ripped a shot from about 40 yards away, and there was nothing the keeper could do.
Disaster struck on Sunday against Oregon State in the 23rd minute as Stoian went down with a leg injury that she would not return from until the second round of the NCAA Tournament. Eight minutes after she went down, Oregon State took the lead. The Wildcats responded well after halftime after Hayley Estopare and Brascia scored within three minutes of each other to take the lead and give Arizona the eventual victory.
One of the stranger games occurred the next week against Colorado. The Buffs took a quick 2-0 lead in the first 16 minutes and that was the score heading into halftime. Stevens got one back in the 55th minute and Arizona was gaining momentum, until Colorado scored again in the 61st to make it 3-1. Crouch then scored about two minutes later to cut the lead back to one. Arizona was on the attack for the rest of the match, and then Skadsen scored Arizona's best team goal of the season as there were one touches galore by Crisler, Wong and Lopez. The match went into overtime, and it looked as though Arizona had won the match as Crouch put the ball in the back of the net as the Colorado keeper couldn't handle it, but the lead official disallowed the goal and cited that the keeper had full possession of the ball. Eventually, the match would end in a draw.
Arizona easily could've come into the Utah match displeased with the way the Colorado match went, but they took care of business as Wong scored her first goal of the season, giving Arizona a 1-0 victory.
The next week, Arizona State came to town and were welcomed by the largest crowd in Arizona history as 1,302 fans packed Mulcahy. Unfortunately, Cali Farquharson scored a hat trick en route to a 4-1 Arizona State victory. Hayley Estopare scored the lone goal for Arizona on senior day.
Nov. 9 was another big day in Arizona soccer history as the team gathered in McKale Center to watch the selection show. The Wildcats would not be disappointed as they learned that they would be hosting the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time in Arizona history. Northern Colorado was selected to be the foe.
The Wildcats dominated the match from start to finish as they outshot the Bears 27-7. Nelson and Skadsen scored for the Wildcats and they won by a score of 2-0.
Arizona then traveled to Palo Alto, Calif. for a rematch against No. 12 Santa Clara in the second round. It turned out to be the Hannah Wong show as she scored twice in 46 seconds. In the 32nd minute, she took a free kick from about 30 yards away and slotted it in the upper left corner. Then shortly after, she stole a pass and ran up the field and took another shot from the same spot and put it in the upper left corner once again. It was as thrilling of a moment Arizona had all season, and Arizona was riding high. Santa Clara got on the board in the 84th minute, but the defense was too much for the Broncos and the Wildcats advanced to the Round of 16 for just the second time in school history.
There would be another rematch as they would face No. 3 Stanford in the Round of 16, and the Cardinal proved to be too much for Arizona. Stanford won by a score of 3-0, ending Arizona's season.
In the locker room after the match, Amato spoke to the team telling them how far they have come in such a short amount of time. “The standard is to make a run in the NCAA Tournament,” he said. What was thought of as a foreign concept just three years ago is reality for the Arizona women's soccer program. Amato, Nagy and Louw have this team headed in the right direction, and they are excited to see how far this program can go.
