A week ago, UCLA capped the Division I women’s soccer season with a 3-2, double-overtime thriller over North Carolina.
Another one-goal UCLA win loomed large for the Arizona Wildcats, who finished 8-7-3 overall and 5-5-1 in Pac-12 play in coach Becca Moros’ second season. Sunshine Fontes scored an 83rd-minute goal as No. 1-ranked UCLA outlasted the UA 1-0 when the teams met Oct. 9 in Westwood.
UA defender Mariah Dunn said the match was a turning point, as well as a bar for comparison.
“We lost in the last five minutes. We put up a good fight against a good team,” she said. “I think that was a really good tell for everyone to know that we’re not playing around this year; we’re coming to win, we’re hungry for the win.”
Mariah Dunn
The singular win Dunn references is a national title. The Wildcats have much improve upon if they hope to be competing for one next year.
“I think that getting better in (scoring) and keeping stupid mistakes off of our back line, and dumb mistakes in general that we can avoid, I think will really help us,” said Dunn. As a fifth-year senior, Dunn will be instrumental in helping eliminate mistakes. Arizona received 24 yellow cards in 2022, one behind Oregon State’s Pac-12-leading total of 25.
Scoring help could soon be on the way for the Wildcats, who finished the season on fire, scoring nine goals in their final three games. Moros has finalized an impressive recruiting class for the 2023 season, a group that includes one forward, two midfielders and one hybrid forward/midfielder.
Dunn expects Moros and her staff to integrate the newcomers into a lineup that will return mostly intact.
“The coaching staff does a really good job of building up the entire team to be able to play in matches. I think that Becca really sees the whole game in a different perspective than most coaches do,” Dunn said.
Moros’ vision will be on display during the Wildcats’ spring season, where the team has previously played as many as five exhibition games in recent years. In the meantime, the Wildcats — like many sports fans — have been watching the World Cup, which runs through Dec. 18.
Dunn said she has drawn inspiration from the games.
“You just watch the drive, the grit, the determination, and the hungriness to win, and it just makes you even hungrier for what we can do for ourselves in this next season,” she said.
