Jones in Arizona record books after soccer team's split against Oregon, Oregon State

A new scoring leader that is.

In yesterday's win against Oregon State junior forward Nikki Jones became the Arizona soccer team's all-time leading scorer. With 19 goals and seven assists (45 points), Jones moved ahead of former-teammate Christine Keeley to take over the UA career scoring lead.

"We all moved forward together really well," said Jones. "We all played well together."

With contributions from all areas of the field, Arizona (8-7-1 overall, 2-3 in the Pacific 10 Conference) was able to stop Oregon State's main threat, leading scorer Lindsay Allori, on the way to a 2-0 win over OSU.

The Beavers slid to 2-12-1 overall and 0-6-0 in the Pac-10. They have lost eight straight matches, scoring only three goals over that stretch.

Freshman midfielder Brooke McManus scored the first goal for the Wildcats at the 10:38 mark. McManus controlled a rebound from her own shot and found the back of the goal from the 15-yard line.

Jones provided an insurance goal for the Wildcats with less than three minutes left in the game. Jones fired her record-breaking shot into the upper right corner of the goal off a pass from sophomore midfielder Krista Bogdan.

Freshman goalkeeper Inger Airheart recorded six saves in her sixth shutout of the season.

"Our team is doing really well," said Airheart. "We have really stepped it up."

Yesterday's game marked the Wildcats' first win against the Beavers in three attempts.

Friday night was a different story.

In their first-ever match against Oregon, Arizona came up short, 2-1.

However, the Wildcats didn't go down without a fight. The entire first half passed without a score from either team. In the second half Arizona had plenty of opportunities to score on the Ducks, but the Wildcats had several of their shots bounce off the goal posts and cross bar.

With 23 minutes left in the game Oregon freshman midfielder T.J. Johnson took advantage of a mistake made by the Arizona defense.

Confusion between senior defender Melissa Kessler and Airheart allowed Johnson to slip between them and convert a close shot at an open goal.

With six minutes left in the game Arizona freshman forward Elena Galvan showed her speed, beating the last Oregon defender just inside the 18-yard box. She launched a shot that sailed past sophomore goalkeeper Amanda Fox on the near post tying the score at one.

With two minutes left in the match Sierra Marsh, the Ducks' leading scorer, blasted a shot from 25 yards out. Her shot flew by Airheart into the upper right corner of the net, lifting the Ducks to a 2-1 victory over the Wildcats.

"Tonight we really controlled the middle well," said Galvan. "We were creating good opportunities. We just need to finish and capitalize on our chances."

Arizona heads for Southern California this weekend for its final road trip of the season. Arizona's final home matches will be against California and Stanford on Nov. 7 and 9.