The Arizona Wildcats soccer team last played a week ago, falling 2-0 to the 10th-ranked Pepperdine Waves at Mulcahy Stadium.
This loss dropped the Wildcats to an even 2-2-2 on the season. Arizona was able to take some positives from the match β one being the play of goalkeeper Hope Hisey.
Hisey tallied four saves against the Waves, bringing her season total up to 36 and her career total up to 264. She is on track to break her single-season record of 102 saves, set as a junior last season.
Hisey believed last weekendβs game could be a springboard as the team moves forward. The Wildcats will host UC Davis at 1 p.m. Sunday.
βI think our biggest takeaway from the game, as a team, would be that we have to like, stay organized and stay communicating with each other,β Hisey said. βThere was a lot of disorganization and not a lot of discipline in defending, and I am a huge part of helping build that responsibility.β
If Hisey sounds like a coach, threeβs a reason why. Her father, Jason, a former prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals organization, is the head baseball coach at Canyon del Oro High School, Hopeβs alma mater. Her mother, Faith Triplett, has also worked with young athletes.
βThey both were coaching sports, and those are natural leadership roles, so Iβve kind of always had role models as far as sports leadership in the house,β he said.
Hisey believes her leadership has helped cultivate a more positive culture on the Wildcatsβ roster.
βI feel it everyday how much respect and admiration that they have for me, and itβs reciprocated all the same back to them,β she said. βI would be nothing without my teammates.β
Itβs that connection that keeps Hisey going. She says she wants to be remembered and respected by her peers when her college career ends.
βIβm not really sure where soccer is going to take me (after graduation), but I know that I have an opportunity to continue to make an impact here,β she said. βIβm kind of just putting my purpose in that,β she said.
