UC Irvine Women’s Soccer (1-1) fell 1-0 to the University of Arizona (2-0) Wildcats in a close match at Murphy Field on Aug. 17 to conclude the opening week of their 2025 season.
Coming off a win as their season opener against the Grand Canyon University Lopes on Aug. 14, the Anteaters headed into the Sunday morning match hoping to minimize their space defensively and capitalize off corner kicks and deflections which worked well for them in the previous match.
Opportunities opened for the Wildcats within the first five minutes of the match when they were awarded a corner kick. Despite the Cats’ senior defender Ella Hatteberg’s attempt at a cross kick to pressure the Eaters’ redshirt junior goalkeeper Laurynn Ziller early on, the ball was immediately headed out of the box by the Eaters’ redshirt sophomore defender Kori Pickelle. The Wildcats retook possession of the ball, but in an attempt to chip the ball in with a header, their senior midfielder Trinity Dorsey missed the net which resulted in a goal kick for the Anteaters.
A close and early attempt to score for the Eaters’ presented itself in the 7th minute when senior midfielder Ella Colombini attempted to run past the Cats’ defensive back but was called offside when her shot attempt bounced off the right side of the crossbar.
As the first half progressed, it was clear it would be a battle of defense as both teams did not let their opponent take quality shots. With a quarter of the game down, UCI did a solid job not allowing Arizona to get behind their defenders and closed up any available space. Yet in the 24th minute, the Cats’ sophomore forward Narissa Fults attempted to put one at the bottom center past Ziller, who made a foot save that went out of bounds and awarded the Cats’ with a corner kick. The Wildcats could not capitalize off the corner kick that went through the box and out of bounds, allowing for the Anteaters to throw in.
The last 15 minutes of the first half looked to be in favor of Arizona, who began controlling the ball and picked up the pace of the game. A foul on the Eaters’s sophomore midfielder Ivy Williams resulted in the 30th minute free kick for the Cats’ sophomore midfielder Lily Boydstun, putting pressure on Ziller as they tried to keep the ball alive in the box. The Cats’ built on the existing pressure on Ziller and were awarded two corner kicks in the same minute. Both attempts for the Cats’ to capitalize were unsuccessful, as the second kick by Boydstun headed toward the back post and was easily saved in the air by Ziller.
Although the first half ended scoreless for both sides, Arizona made a great attempt to pick up the pace and found themselves with another corner kick opportunity in the 45th minute, but did not take advantage because of the Anteaters’ tough defense.
As the match resumed for the second half, UCI’s offensive aggression showed in the 49th minute. Senior midfielder Mia Colombini made a cross attempt from just outside of the Cats’ box but was saved by their senior goal keeper Olivia Ramey.
Chaos broke out in the 54th minute on UCI’s side of the pitch when Arizona’s senior midfielder Sami Baytosh made a pass to Fults, who quickly transferred the ball to avoid the Eaters’ defense. Cats’ sophomore forward Rose Calkins received the pass and made a cross to Boydstun, whose header made it right in front of Ziller. A couple of Cats’ players tried to poke it past the UCI keeper, who ultimately maintained possession and kept the game scoreless.
The clock ticking in the second half raised tension for both teams, especially UCI with failed attempts to maximize off free kicks to build momentum. Arizona in the 66th minute had their sophomore defender Kennedy Fletcher make a shot attempt but fired way over the net.
Arizona’s control of the game’s tempo began in the last 15 minutes of the game as they made more shot attempts than UCI. Between the 77th and 85th minute, the Wildcats made three shot attempts that threatened the Eaters’ defense. UCI in that time only made one shot attempt by their senior forward Jenika Davis in the 84th minute.
Arizona finally made a breakthrough by obtaining two corner kicks in the last five minutes of the match and finding luck with their eighth corner kick of the game. In the 89th minute, a cross kick assist from Boydstun allowed Fletcher to find the back of the Eaters’ net and put the Cats on top.
Despite the clear devastation for UCI, they did not let up and tried to equalize in the final seconds of the match on a shot attempt from Williams, but it was too far left.
The game concluded and UCI fell to Arizona in a close match, 1-0. Throughout the battle of defenses, the Wildcats outshot the Anteaters 10-3 and 6-1 shots on goals. All eight corner kicks of the game belonged to Arizona, which was lethal for UCI’s defense.
In spite of the upset, UCI will have until Aug. 21 to recharge before they face the San Diego University (0-0-1) Toreros for another non-conference match away at Torero Stadium.
Gissel Delgado is a Sports Intern for the summer 2025 quarter. She can be reached at gissead1@uci.edu.
Edited by Jack Fedor and Annabelle Aguirre