Forget contempt. Familiarity breeds confidence.
That’s been one of the resounding themes this week for Arizona’s women’s soccer team as it prepares for the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Wildcats (11-6-1) will host TCU (11-7-3) on Saturday night, and the matchup comes as a welcome surprise for an Arizona team that’s already played the Horned Frogs once this season.
“We’ve beaten them, so we know how they play,” sophomore midfielder Iliana Hocking said. “We know we can beat them again.”
Back in September, the Wildcats hosted the Horned Frogs and emerged with a 4-3 victory.
UA coach Tony Amato said playing a team twice “raises the challenge.”
“We’ve always done well when the challenge is big,” Amato added.
The Wildcats needed a victory in the season finale against Arizona State on Nov. 8 to have any shot at hosting an NCAA Tournament game. Jada Talley’s 82nd-minute goal gave the Wildcats a 1-0 win. Arizona also pulled off upset wins against nationally ranked UCLA and Washington State this year.
Despite these accomplishments, the team ranked just 40th in the NCAA’s RPI and was not projected to be one of the 32 teams hosting a tournament game. So when the Wildcats received the news earlier this that they would be staying in Tucson for the opening round of the tournament and it came as quite a shock. Now, the Cats they feel like they’ve got the upper hand with a 7-2 record at Mulcahy Stadium.
“You get to have the home crowd. You’re also not traveling so you have more days to prepare,” Hocking said.
Coach Tony Amato acknowledges that playing a team twice “raises the challenge,” but his team will be hosting TCU at Mulcahy Stadium in Tucson, where the Cats are 7-2.
Saturday’s matchup marks the third year in a row the Wildcats have hosted an opening round NCAA Tournament game, with the Cats winning the previous two.
The opponents: Denver in 2018 and … TCU in 2017.
“We can play against anyone on a given day, so it’s just a matter of a good night and bringing our ‘A’ game when it’s called for Saturday,” Amato said.
Corner kicks
• Talley will draw a lot of attention from the TCU defense, and for good reason. The junior leads the team in both goals (10) and assists (8) and was named first team All-Pac-12.
But she’s still missing one thing on her résumé.
“I don’t think she’s scored a postseason goal,” Amato said. “So we gotta make sure we do that. But we’re proud of her. She’s had a great season.”
• Saturday’s winner will take on Penn State, the No. 4 seed in UA’s 16-team bracket. The Nittany Lions beat visiting Stony Brook 3-1 on Friday night.
