Thursday night’s matchup between the Arizona Wildcats and the Kansas Jayhawks featured two teams fighting to remain in playoff contention, sitting at eighth and ninth in the Big 12, respectively, with two games remaining in the regular season.
Only the top 12 teams will advance to the playoffs, making these last few games critical for those teams who are lingering on the edge of qualifying.
Kansas and Arizona both have 4-4-1 conference records following the Jayhawks’ 4-0 victory at Mulcahy Stadium.
Kansas (7-5-4 overall) entered the game riding high after a 2-0 win against seventh-ranked Utah, while the Wildcats (9-5-2) were coming off a 1-0 away loss at Houston.
The game was quite physical, with plenty of shoulder checks and hard fouls that was reminiscent of Arizona’s game against BYU on Oct. 4, although no cards were shown.
But unfortunately for the Wildcats, they were unable to match Kansas’ physicality and impose their will on the game. The first 15 minutes saw them relegated to defending deep in their own half, just trying to weather Kansas’ early aggression.
Following a corner in the 13th minute, Kansas broke through the Arizona defense. Arizona defenders were unable to fully clear the ball from the box, allowing Kansas midfielder Jillian Gregorski to put it in the back of the net.
Going into halftime, it was still anyone’s game, but Kansas would only build upon its early lead.
Gregorski would add to her goal tally in the 52nd minute, knocking home a rebound after fellow Jayhawk Saige Wimes’ shot deflected off the cross bar and into her path.
Just seven minutes later, the lead would only continue to grow. Forward Lexi Watts would get on the end of a cross, and although goalkeeper Olivia Ramey got a hand to it, there was too much power on the shot to keep it out the net.
In the 84th minute, midfielder Emily Tobin capped off the night by scoring an absolute beauty in the form of a curling shot into the top right corner that no keeper would have a chance at saving.
Despite the scoreline, it must be written that Ramey didn’t have the worst game, saving six of Kansas’ eleven shots on her goal. But Kansas appeared to want this game more than Arizona did. They were aggressive, physical, and often the first to pounce on loose balls.
Following the game, Arizona coach Becca Moros was understandably not pleased with her team’s performance. This is her full statement:
“Pressure is a privilege. We’re at the point now where we’re a big game for other people. It’s an opportunity for teams like Kansas, Houston, and UCF to move up. When we play teams that were ahead of us [in the standings], it’s an opportunity for us to move up. It’s a completely different mentality, and it’s something we haven’t experienced in a long time, to be the team that could be the biggest win for another team’s season, and the biggest opportunity that they may have in the remainder of the season to get into the tournament, or to get better seeding.
“We worked hard to get to this point, but we have two games left to get back to doing what we do, and playing bravely. If we go down playing our way, then we’ll deal with that. But the last few games there have been considerable amounts of the game where we are not playing the way that we play. And I would say that that’s not a recipe for success for any team, when you deviate from what you do best.
“At the end of the day, we have some really key players who did not play well and have not played well for a couple games. And there are some other players who have had the door opened for them to take playing time and they haven’t done it. So at the end of the day, it’s up to them to get more competitive, to push themselves, to push each other, and if someone leaves the door open for you to take their spot, take it! This is do-or-die time. You gotta have that intensity and passion and you gotta go for it. If someone isn’t going to own their minutes, then you gotta take them.”
Arizona, looking for its first goal in three games after consecutive shut-out losses, has an opportunity to act on Morros’ comments in its next game Sunday at Mulcahy Stadium against Kansas State. The game starts at 11:30 a.m.
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