TUCSON, Ariz. – Jaden DeGracie scored her first goal of the season to give the 25th-ranked Wildcats the 1-0 victory over No. 21 Washington on Friday, Sept. 25 at Mulcahy Stadium. In the 52nd minute, she received a pass from Charlotte Brascia after a scrum in the goal box and DeGracie realized she was wide open. She struck it with her right foot and the ball flew into the upper right hand corner of the goal.
“Any time you play a team that is in the top 25 and top 10 in the RPI, you're going to have to work hard and have good team spirit,” head coach Tony Amato said. “I think we did all of that tonight and you have to catch a few breaks. They hit the crossbar and we had some good chances too. Rachel (Estopare) made some good saves to give us a chance and Jaden (DeGracie) took a great opportunity and scored. Games at this level are going to have to be won that way.”
Just two minutes into the match, Estopare put her mark on the match as she came up with a first-class save. The ball was crossed into the box and a Washington attacker got a clean shot off from about 10 yards away. Estopare reacted quickly and was able to get a hand on it and made her first save of the night.
Arizona's first opportunity came at the 21st minute when Gabi Stoian switched fields with a pass to Hannah Wong. Wong then put a dangerous ball into the middle of the box, but Washington keeper Megan Kufeld ended the danger after pouncing on the cross.
In the 36th minute, DeGracie executed the flip throw to perfection as it made it over the entire group and was going towards the back post. The ball rolled out of bounds, but had an Arizona player been on the back post ready for the ball, it would have been an easy goal.
Shortly after, Cali Crisler entered the game for the first time since she scored against Abilene Christian in the first match of the season back on Aug. 21.
Just before halftime in the 44th minute, Washington ripped a shot from outside the box and got it passed Estopare, but it drilled the crossbar and the ball was cleared to safety.
Just two minutes after halftime, Brascia made a dangerous run and got a shot off that was saved by Kufeld, but she could not hang on to it. The ball had deflected off of Kufeld and hit the post and rolled to safety.
DeGracie then scored her goal in the 52nd minute off of Brascia's third assist of the season, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead.
In the 60th minute, Wong made a long run that resulted in an open shot from about 15 yards away in the middle of the field. She took the shot and put it on target, but Kufeld was able to make the save.
Estopare then made another quality save as Washington went for goal on a free kick, but she was able to go to the ground and make the save.
In the 65th minute, Kaitlyn Lopez then outhustled the Washington defender as she beat her to the ball in the Washington box and went for the far post. Kufeld came up big for Washington as she was able to get a hand on it and ended the Arizona attack.
Washington had one more opportunity in the 84th minute as a good through ball forced Estopare off her line, but she was able to beat the Washington attacker to the spot and dove on the ball, ending the attack.
The Arizona defense held on for the rest of the match and the Wildcats earned their seventh victory of the season in their Pac-12 opener.
The Wildcats are back in action on Oct. 2 when they host the California Golden Bears, which is surely to be another top-25 matchup. The match will kick off at 7 p.m. PT in Tucson, Ariz. at Mulcahy Stadium.
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