Editorβs note: This is the first in a series of five on the most underrated Arizona Wildcats athletes.
Jill Aguileraβs freshman year didnβt go as planned. The 5-feet-6-inch forward tore her ACL in her first soccer match.
For Aguilera the injury might have been a setback, yet she overcame that obstacle and progressively improved each season, culminating in a stellar junior year in 2019 where she helped lead the Arizona Wildcats to a 12-7-1 overall record (5-5-1 in Pac-12) and to the second round in the NCAA Tournament.
During her long recovery period what kept her going was what she wasnβt doing β helping her teammates.
That was motivation then and still is for Aguilera. So much so that her jump this past season took it to the next level β understanding each teammateβs strengths and expanding her vision. Playing multiple positions and seeing the field from different vantage points helped.
βI think it helps me appreciate everybodyβs position more, and helps me understand where I need to be as a forward to help out a midfielder, to help out a defender,β she said. βAnd I think when we do drills that help see everyoneβs position and our own vision better, I think that this is big, too.
βWe talked about knowing what to do with each teammate β where youβre going to pass it to that kind of thing. For instance, for Jada (Talley) sheβs very good with at distance, you know, she can run forever. She might prefer the ball in space. Or you take someone like Hannah (Clifford), sheβs very good at her feet, you might want to play that ball to her feet more than in space.β
The other part of Aguileraβs story is that she plays alongside one of the top forwards in the Pac-12 β Talley β and she may go unnoticed, despite everything she does.
Why sheβs good
Aguilera tallied 20 points last season. She scored nine goals and had two assists, and led the team in shots (56) and shots on goal (24). She scored two goals against Stanford to break the Cardinalβs eight-game shutout streak. She was named to the United Soccer Coaches NCAA Division I Womenβs All-Pacific Region Third Team.
Sheβs fast, athletic and powerful β and is a lefty, which allows her to get into spots and not have to cut back inside.
Jill Aguilera, right, had nine goals last year, including this one against TCU that helped UA to a 4-3 win over the Horned Frogs.
Aguilera is flexible and does whatever it takes to help her team β she starts, comes off the bench and plays in different positions. This makes it harder for other teams to prepare for her.
She is a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic second-team member.
βHer power, her strength and her ability to hit the ball so hard, sheβs tapped into that and produced good results. All of those things make her a dynamic attacker,β said head coach Tony Amato. βThere are so many different ways she brings value.
βStats-wise, look at her nine goals and two assists. Itβs hard to score and in our league if you get double-digit goals or close, thatβs really good. She brought the production and thatβs huge.β
Why sheβs underrated
She is over-shadowed by her teammate. Talley scored 10 goals and had eight assists for a total of 28 points. She made All-Pacific Region second team and Pac-12 All- Conference first team.
In addition, Aguilera came from a small club in Northern California β Juventus Zebre SC β and got injured right away at UA and didnβt have instant success. She is one of those athletes who has gotten better each season.
β(When we recruited her) she went under the radar,β Amato said. βShe was a little raw in skill β but we saw her run and strike the ball. As an athlete she jumped off the page.
βWe thought if sheβs coachable and develops, she capable.
βThen, she took an obstacle (her injury) and made it into a positive. She was out of the game for 9-12 months. I think any time the game is taken away it fuels your passion and fire. She really improved β she watched from the sideline, learned and grew. She had a breakout year in her third season β it all came together.β
Coachspeak
βShe came off the bench in five, six or seven games. She was always a team player. She could have been frustrated and not bought in β a player of her quality not starting. She was as good a teammate as you could be. Not a lot of people could handle it like Jill did. She was pleasant, a good attitude. She never moped. There were no bad games.β β Amato
She said it
βAt Arizona, everybody is super good and everybody can be on the field. And I think that for me β and I know that Jada and I talk about this all the time β we donβt care who scores, we just want to win. I donβt care; I do not care who scores who is on the stat sheet, I just want us as a team to be able to win. And I think that both of us having that mindset helped us win more games, regardless who scores.
βI just love watching our team highlights after we score no matter who scores. I love watching everybody huddled together and hug β and then you see it on video.
βWhen Arizona Soccer posts it and itβs like a flashback right back into that situation. You remember seeing it β like an assist to a goal that was insane. I watch it all the time now and it makes me miss it so much that we canβt do it now, but Iβm really excited for this fall.β β Aguilera
