MALIBU, Calif. - The Arizona soccer team made the trip to Pepperdine on Thursday for an exhibition, falling to the Waves 2-1.
The Cats put up a goal in the 65th minute when sophomore Brooke Ahern served up a cross that Sami Baytosh put in the back of the net. Ahern received the ball from Gianna Christiansen and evaded three defenders to set up the Arizona goal.
Pepperdine took three shots in the initial 16 minutes, one of which resulted in a goal by Kelsey Adams in the 16th minute to give the Waves an early 1-0 edge.
The Waves upped their advantage with a second goal scored in the 30th minutes by Skylar Edge off a pass from Tori Waldeck.
Cameron Valladares subbed in for the Cats in the 30th minute and got a shot off less than a minute after going into the match.
Arizona was threatening for the remainder of the second half with shots from
Desiree Foster and Christiansen, but the squad was unable to even the score before time expired.
A trio of newcomers saw playing time as
Shanti Weddington,
Marissa Arnst and
Brooke Ahern each clocked significant minutes for the Cats.
The 2023 season officially begins Friday, Aug. 17 at Iowa State. The Wildcats will open their home slate Friday, Aug. 24 against GCU at 7:00 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at
arizonawildcats.com/soccer.
