Arizona soccer seemed to have found its footing Thursday night at Baylor. The Wildcats had a complete game in their first Big 12 victory. That didn’t last long, as they once again struggled to get anything going offensively in a 1-0 loss at TCU early Sunday afternoon.
On the positive side, Arizona held TCU well below its 2.11 goals per match average. The flip side was that it was completely unthreatening on the attack.
The Horned Frogs outshot Arizona 15-3. Shots on goal were 5-1 in TCU’s favor.
It wasn’t a fluke, either. TCU controlled play. Its passes were much crisper. It maintained possession and pushed into its attacking third repeatedly while Arizona had difficulty getting through midfield and connecting on its own passes.
The Wildcats continue to be stingy on defense, allowing just five goals in 10 matches this season. All of its losses except the 2-0 loss to North Carolina have been by one goal.
However, the struggles on offense have been consistent of late, as well. UA had five or fewer shots for the second time in its three Big 12 contests. The three shots matched its season low against the Tar Heels.
It wasn’t a matchup where Arizona should have seemed so overmatched. The teams went in with identical 6-2-1 records. TCU was No. 38 in RPI while Arizona was No. 52. While the score made it look close, actual play was firmly tilted in the Horned Frogs’ favor from start to finish.
TCU finally broke through in the 67th minute. Arizona had possession in its defensive end and was beginning to pass the ball in an attempt to move forward. Instead, TCU regained possession just outside the Arizona 18. The shot wasn’t particularly well-struck by TCU’s Caroline Kelly, but it went just beyond the outstretched arm of Arizona goalkeeper Olivia Ramey into the bottom right corner.
Arizona can finally look forward to playing at home next week. The Wildcats have played six of their last seven on the road, including all three Big 12 matches. They will host Cincinnati on Thursday followed by West Virginia on Sunday. If they hope to break their four-year NCAA Tournament drought, they need to take care of business. They are now 6-3-1 overall and 1-2-0 in Big 12 play.
Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics
