The Arizona soccer team opened the 2022 season – and the 2022-23 Arizona Athletics season - with a dramatic come-from-behind win over Iowa State at Mulcahy Stadium on Thursday night by a score of 2-1.
Arizona (1-0) junior Quincy Bonds scored her first goal of the season, and first of her career, in the 81st minute directly off a corner kick from freshman Sami Baytosh, who earned her first career assist.
The second Arizona goal – and the game-winner – came in the 85th minute and was credited as an own goal as another corner kick deflected in off an Iowa State defender.
The Wildcats improve to 6-4 in regular season openers at home and have outscored their opponents, 15-8 in those games. Arizona has now won four straight season openers and second-year head coach Rebecca Moros is now 2-0 in season openers with the Wildcats after winning at San Diego State last year.
Senior Hope Hisey picked up the win in goal for UA, the 24th victory in her career.
The match began fairly even, with Arizona controlling possession. The game appeared to change when Iowa State's Salome Prat was issued a straight red card in the 28th minute. From there, Arizona's attack increased in the 11-on-10 situation for the rest of the match.
And although UA was not able to get on the board just before halftime, the consistent pressure on the ISU goal was there.
But the tide turned quickly in the second half, as the Cyclones took advantage of a UA mistake in the midfield and found the back of the goal in the 48th minute.
Being down a goal only encouraged the Arizona attack – and the large crowd – even more. The Wildcats were relentless in the final third of the field but continued to search for the back of the net.
As the match entered the final 10 minutes, there was finally a breakthrough. A corner kick off the foot of Baytosh found the middle of the six-yard box. It escaped the ISU keeper's grasp and ended up in the back of the goal to tie the match in the 81st minute. After initially being credited as an own goal off an ISU defender, a review of the video after the game showed that the ball glanced off Bonds before finding the net.
Arizona drew yet another corner kick in the 86th minute, and finished with 15 for the game. It would be Baytosh that stepped up again and sent a great ball into the box right in front of the goal. The ball would carom directly off an Iowa State defender any into the left side of the goal to put Arizona in front to stay.
"We are a team that comes out with a lot of energy and it's our energy that allows a lot of us to find the back of the net" said Nicole Dallin following the game. "We knew if we continued to play our game, even when we were behind, that we would be fine and have a chance to win."
The Wildcats will travel to Texas Tech for a Sunday matchup with the Red Raiders starting at 5:00 p.m. Pacific/7:00 p.m. Central. The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.
The next home match for Arizona will be on Sept. 4 against UAB with a start time of 10:30 a.m. Pacific at Mulcahy Stadium.
Original source can be found here.
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