Thursday August 30, 2001 |

Women's soccer opens season against No. 5 Nebraska

Arizona women's soccer will attempt to take down one of the top teams in the country tomorrow night - no small feat for a team that only won three games last season.

The Wildcats traveled to Nebraska to face last season's Big XII Conference Champion Cornhuskers at 9 p.m. local time. It will be the first regular-season game of 2001 for both teams.

With its regular season almost underway, assistant coach Casey Mann said he is anticipating a strong performance.

"We're just looking to come in there and play hard," Mann said. "We're not expecting miracles, but we are looking to put on a good match. It's a good test for us to learn and grow and see where we need to be."

No. 5 Nebraska posted a remarkable 22-2-0 mark last season and is coming off a 1-0 exhibition win against the defending National Champions of North Carolina.

Mann expects the Cornhuskers to bring speed, size and athleticism to Friday's match, and said Arizona's ability to fight fire with fire will be the key to the outcome.

"They play an attack-oriented game," Mann said. "They come at you with a lot of numbers and like to score goals. We're going to need to match their intenseness and competitiveness, be composed and smart."

Senior goalkeeper Shannon Monti said she's confident that this year's team will bear little resemblance to the one that went 3-15-2 last season.

"I know we can (improve our record)," senior goalkeeper Shannon Monti said. "We improved more (last season) than the record shows but wins and loses are a part of the game, and we need to get better."

The Wildcats will look to senior forward Kristi Loro–a and sophomore forward/defender Liz Bartlett for help offensively. The two led the Wildcats in scoring with four and five goals respectively.

Monti is also expected to be an anchor for the team in front of the net. The UA senior started in all of the Wildcat's 20 games while accumulating 87 saves and a 2.59 goals-against average.

Arizona has one of its strongest recruiting classes in its program's history, consisting of 10 freshman and two juniors. The new talent has coaches anticipating a strong season.

"So far, the freshmen have melded well with the group," assistant coach Melissa Estrada said. "We're a lot faster, and the team as a whole is very excited. They might be young, but they've all come from winning programs. (Inexperience) won't be a big deal for us."