Wildcats kick off inaugural series today against San Jose State

That is the record needed after this weekend's games against San Jose State and Sacramento State which would put the Arizona soccer team two victories away from tying its best season - the six wins the Wildcats notched in the 1995 season.

Arizona (2-1) kicks off its inaugural series against San Jose State this afternoon at 3 on a neutral field in Sacramento, Calif.

"This week the players have had a real positive attitude," sophomore defender Michalle St. John commented. "It will be a real morality booster if we come home 4-1."

UA remains in the city to take on Sacramento State in a noon contest on Sunday.

The Wildcats have a history with Sacramento State, including the upcoming match at Hornet Soccer Field.

The first time Arizona faced the Hornets was in the first-ever match of UA's first season. On Sept. 4, 1994, Arizona fell 3-1 to the Hornets in Sacramento, Calif.

In a second matchup in late October of 1995, junior Nikki Jones recorded the second hat trick in UA history at the Wildcat's former home field at Pima Community College. Arizona won that game 4-2.

This week in practice the Wildcats have focused on defensive plays, especially in the midfield.

"We have been fine tuning the defense across the entire field this week," head coach Lisa Fraser said. "We've cleaned up the offense a bit and worked on the midfield players coming back for defensive support."

An area of the defense that did not need improvement is the goalkeeping of freshman Inger Airheart. Airheart has played well as a starter in her first year in college, recording one shutout on her way to 12 saves and a 1.00 goals against average.

Fraser said both San Jose State and Sacramento State are good teams and that this week's adjustments were in preparation for this weekend.

"We cannot have any breakdowns in the defense," St. John said. "Our set plays and one versus one skills need to be good."

UA is expecting tough games and is aware of the offensively skilled teams.

With the tough Pacific 10 Conference schedule ahead of them, now is the best time to get closer to that six game mark.

"We are taking the season game to game right now," Fraser said. "Coming home with one or two wins will build a lot of confidence in the players."