Thursday September 27, 2001

Wildcats open 6 game road trip against BYU

The Arizona soccer team will open up its six-game road trip tomorrow night against a pair of tough Utah teams.

Assistant coach Melissa Estrada said the weekend will be the Wildcats' toughest since their season-opener against No. 5 Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb.

"In terms of non-conference opponents, they are the best since Nebraska," Estrada said. "They're going to play hard and try to get us to play a weaker level of soccer. It's going to be a battle."

Brigham Young played tough against two of the top-ranked schools this past weekend. They were defeated 2-1 on Saturday night by No. 5 Portland but tied No. 17 Washington, 1-1, Friday night.

In its most recent matchup with the Wildcats, BYU (3-2-1) defeated the Wildcats, 3-2 at UA's Murphey Stadium last Oct. 28.

UA head coach Cathy Klein said the Cougars are going to be difficult to beat.

"BYU, in my opinion, is more talented than anyone on our schedule," Klein said. "They are the team we want to be in a couple of years. Any time you play BYU, it's a tough day."

After their match with the Cougars, the Wildcats will travel to Salt Lake City to play Utah Sunday afternoon.

In its last game against Utah, Arizona dropped a 4-1 decision at home, though. Estrada said with a strong freshman class and a talented group of returnees, the Wildcats are seeking revenge.

"With Utah (and BYU) this year, our girls are going to want to turn the tables on them," Estrada said.

Klein and Estrada both stressed at practice this past week the importance of playing well for 90 minutes - not just the second half.

In both of its matches last weekend, the Wildcats trailed both their opponents - the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Pepperdine - 1-0 at the break.

Although UA was able to regain its momentum to defeat UNLV 4-1 and tie Peperdine, 2-2, Estrada said one good half of soccer is not going to be enough to beat BYU or Utah.

"You have to take care of business right from the start," Estrada said. "(The girls) have got to play for a full 90 minutes (if they're going to win). They learned that against Pepperdine and it will definitely help us for the rest of the season."

Klein agreed.

"Our approach has been the same all season - we have to execute under pressure," Klein said. "Whether it is the first or second half, we have expectations. Our effort has to be at the maximum every time we represent Arizona."