If Arizona soccer was going to lose one of its last four games, the most unlikely scenario was that the loss would come at the hands of the Houston Cougars. The Cougars had lost every Big 12 game this year, coming into the match 0-7-0. Make that 1-7-0 now as UH took down the Wildcats 1-0 on Sunday afternoon.
Arizona came out aggressively and controlled the pace of the game early on. The Wildcats had three dangerous shots in the first 32 minutes. Houston goalkeeper Maggie Manning saved them all.
Then, the Wildcats got their best opportunity of the match. Freshman forward Narissa Fults made a run that ended with her being taken down just after she got into the box. Arizona was awarded the penalty kick.
A penalty kick by Gianna Christiansen won the match against UCF on Thursday. Christiansen stepped to the spot to try to put the Wildcats up in the 37th minute on Sunday.
Manning came up big again, saving the PK and keeping the score even at 0-0. UH’s freshman keeper saved nine shots in the match, but none was bigger than this one.
The teams went into the locker rooms still locked at 0-0. Less than 10 minutes into the second half, Alexis Fowlkes scored her first goal of the season to give the Cougars a 1-0 lead. The senior midfielder had only taken two shots coming into the match, but her shot from just outside the box rocketed past Arizona goalkeeper Sofia Cortes-Browne.
It was all the Cougars would need.
Arizona had a prime opportunity to score in the 67th minute, but fifth-year midfielder Megan Chelf was just offsides.
Both teams took 15 shots. Arizona put nine of theirs on goal compared to five for the Cougars.
Freshman goalkeeper Cortes-Browne got the start for Arizona in place of junior Olivia Ramey. It was Cortes-Browne’s first start in conference play.
Arizona came into the match at No. 30 in the RPI. The new RPI will not be out until Monday. The Wildcats now stand at 9-4-2 overall and 4-3-1 in Big 12 play. They are trying to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.
Lead photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics
