FC Tucson Women forward Meredith Scott returned to Southern Arizona and led the way as the club racked up their biggest offensive output in years in the season opener.
Scott tallied a hat trick and had an assist in FC Tucson’s 7-1 win over the El Paso Surf last week.
“It was fun,” Scott said. “It was my first WPSL hat trick and just the support and the like liveliness from my teammates made it so much more fun.”
It was Scott’s first game back in Tucson after she transferred to New Mexico State from Pima College for the spring semester.
“She did great, it’s been so impressive her transition from last year to this season,” said FC Tucson head coach Kelly Pierce. “She was beneficial last season but has been massive for us this season.”
FC Tucson (1-0-0) plays at Utah Royals FC Arizona (1-1-0) at Scottsdale Notre Dame Prep on Saturday night.
Seven goals is the team's most since a 7-0 win over St. George United in 2013.
“I don’t think we’ve won a game like that since I played and that was a hundred years ago (laughs),” Pierce said. “So it was good.”
Pierce played for TSA FC/FC Tucson in the early- to mid-2010s.
At Pima, Scott played in 15 games and started 11, scoring nine goals and getting five assists. She had three multi-goal games.
“She grew a ton (from last summer),” Pierce said. “She clearly has developed even more, she’s very hard working, such a great attitude, coachable; she’s thriving and it’s awesome to see, it’s exciting.”
Scott could have gone straight to NMSU out of high school but wanted to spend another year with family and friends in Southern Arizona before deciding to make the leap after one semester after the Aztecs went 14-3-1 and reached the national tournament.
“I had a weird recruiting journey,” Scott said. “Pima was a good team but I think New Mexico State and the coaching staff’s demands were a lot a higher so it kinda showed me what I needed to be for the summer and going into the fall, it was like, as I said, a stepping stone, like a really, really good one.”
At Walden Grove, Scott was All-State and Class 4A Gila Player of the Year in 2022.
When she and other Red Wolves joined FC Tucson, it was with former rivals from Salpointe Catholic. Pierce, who coaches the Salpointe girls varsity, and the other Lancers knocked Walden Grove out of the state tournament the last two years.
“It was a little fun because last year coming in we had lost to Salpointe in the semifinals and I remembered I was like ‘ugh Kelly Pierce, Kelly Pierce’ and then I got to play for her and I was like ‘I see what the hype is about’ (laughs),” Scott said. “So it was definitely fun being able to play for her and see her competitive spirit and her coaching abilities.”
Scott scored two goals in his last high school game as Walden Grove lost to Salpointe in a shootout after they tied 2-2 in the 2022 state semifinals.
“It was a challenge,” Pierce said about coaching against Scott in high school. “We knew she was their key player always so I was always trying to eliminate the threat with her but I think she still got some in on us but her hard working, sacrificing her body and just constantly working and grinding trying to get to the back of the net is a huge asset.”
A prolific scorer and dominant offense could be just what FCTW needs its string of three first-place finishes in a row ended last season when it settled for a 3-1-3 record.
“That would be great, that was our huge struggle last year but again this is a completely different team this season,” Pierce said. “We’re still missing a handful of players and even going into the game this weekend we’re missing a lot of players from vacations or are still in college, so that’s always a challenge, is the interchanging but I have confidence in them."
Corner kicks
- FC Tucson checked in at No. 8 in the WPSL West Power Rankings put out by the league. No. 7 SC del Sol is the highest-ranked team in the West from FC Tucson’s conference.
- The Fresno Freeze are No. 1 in the West, and the Colorado Rapids Women top the national rankings.
