UA defeats 2nd top-10 team in as many weeks
The No. 24 Wildcat soccer team knocked off another top-10 team this weekend and remains tied for first place in the Pacific 10 Conference after its weekend split in California's Bay Area.
California (8-3-2 overall, 1-1-1 Pac-10) handed the Wildcats (12-3, 3-1-0) a 1-0 loss, their first conference defeat of the season. After the UA failed to convert an opportunity to score early in the second half, Cal freshman Stephanie Wieger scored just minutes later from 12 yards out in the 56th minute.
"Today we just couldn't get the equalizer," UA coach Dan Tobias said. "We just didn't get it done.
"We feel like we didn't perform very well, and we didn't perform well together."
Friday, the Wildcats upset No. 10 Stanford (9-3-2, 1-1-1 Pac-10), 1-0 in double overtime. In the 108th minute of play, the Wildcats were awarded a corner kick. Midfielder Jennifer Klein took the kick, and forward Kamaya Damwijk challenged Stanford goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart for the ball in the box. The only option Barnhart had was to punch the ball out of danger, and it came out to junior midfielder Nikki David who with one touch struck the ball and sent it to the corner of the net.
Friday's win marked the first time any Wildcat soccer team has defeated Stanford, and the first time the Wildcats have ever won more than two Pac-10 games in a single season.
"It was awesome. It was such a rush," David said of the game-winner. "If I was a few more inches over, I probably wouldn't have made the shot. It was just the right place at the right time."
After escaping the Bay Area with a split and only one goal allowed, Tobias said he was impressed with the way his defense is playing. From the second half of the Wildcats' 3-1 win over Washington Oct. 10 to the 56th minute of yesterday's game - a span of nearly 210 minutes over three games - the Wildcats did not allow a goal. Those three games were against the No. 4, No. 10 and No. 14 teams in the country.
The Wildcats remain tied for first place in the Pac-10 with UCLA (10-4-0, 3-1-0), who beat Washington 5-1 yesterday but fell 1-0 to Washington State Friday.
The UA's only action of the week will be Friday, where they will take on ASU in Tempe at 7 p.m.