Arizona soccer still searching for consistent offense in final week of nonconference

Last season, Arizona soccer (2-3-1) ended the season ranked No. 239 in Division I in goal differential at -6. With Big 12 play still to come, the Wildcats are No. 188 with a -1 goal differential. That’s lower than their first opponent this week.

Northern Arizona (2-3-1) comes into Thursday’s match ranked No. 159 with a +1 differential.

NAU is a team Arizona head coach Becca Moros and her Wildcats see a lot. Not only do the two teams play each other during the regular season most years, but they also face off during spring games.

If the last regular season game between the two is any indication, Arizona should have the opportunity to get itself right against the Lumberjacks. The Wildcats edged past NAU by the score of 1-0 in an exhibition in Flagstaff last season, but they had much more success when the two teams met in Tucson during the regular season two years ago. That match was a 5-0 Arizona victory. The last time the Wildcats scored five goals was almost exactly a year ago when they defeated GCU 5-2 on Sept. 14.

Last week’s match against Dartmouth proved that it may not be so easy, though. Moros and her players felt they did enough to win that match, but they didn’t capitalize on their chances. They outshot the Big Green 14-1 and had a 5-1 edge in shots on goal, but Dartmouth’s only shot went into the net.

For Moros and her players, it’s about making things happen instead of waiting for the other team to make a mistake. The Wildcats were unable to create their own space in the 1-0 loss to Dartmouth.

“I think just in the final third, just realizing when to move, the right time to move,” said freshman midfielder Emerson Stoft. “I just think that we couldn’t do that in the final third in Dartmouth, and that happens. But just moving forward, being more organized and being more focused in the final third and knowing when to open up and move for other players.”

When: Friday, Sept. 10 @ 7 p.m. MST

Where: Mulcahy Soccer Stadium in Tucson, Ariz.

Streaming:ESPN+

Stats:Arizona Live Stats

When: Sunday, Sept. 13 @ 12 p.m. MST

Where: Tari Frahm Rokus Field in Malibu, Calif.

Streaming:ESPN+

Stats:Arizona Live Stats

Whatever the cause, several of Arizona’s offensive numbers are down this year. A year after trailing opponents in most offensive categories, it is once again behind opponents this year. That’s concerning since scoring was the major problem in 2025.

The Wildcats have scored six goals in six games this season, averaging out to 1.00 goals per game. Last season, they ended the season with 1.16 goals per game, a number helped by scoring five goals against both GCU and UNLV in nonconference play.

There have been no such blowouts in the nonconference so far this season. That isn’t necessarily due to increased competition, either, since UA traveled to the Bay Area to play Stanford and California last season. The Cardinal were ranked first in the nation at the time and won that match 6-0.

So far this year, Arizona is putting 41.7 percent of its shots on goal. It is scoring on 8.3 percent of its shots. Both of those numbers are down from last season when the Wildcats scored on 11.3 percent of their shots and put 44.6 percent of their shots on goal.

There is a positive for the Wildcats this year that suggests things could change. They are taking more shots this season, up to 12.0 per game from 10.3 per game in 2025. They are also outshooting their opponents 12.0 to 7.8 shots per game so far.

Can the Wildcats maintain this positive imbalance and begin to capitalize on it more as they move into conference play? Unless they find a way to consistently capitalize on the increased number of chances they are creating, it will be an uphill climb.

Last season, Arizona’s opponents maintained their shots and shots per game fairly well from nonconference to conference play. Opposing teams had 10.9 shots per game overall. That number took a slight downturn to 10.3 shots per game in league play. The Wildcats, on the other hand, nosedived once they got into Big 12 competition. Their 10.3 shots per game overall dropped to just 8.6 shots per game against conference opponents.

Currently, the Wildcats are 16th in the 16-team league in total goals and tied for 15th in goals per game. They are 13th in shots per game and tied for 11th in shots on goal per game.

It will require a strong performance by Arizona’s defense to combat that. While that unit has shown improvements over last year’s defense and is the most experienced group on the team, it is still ranked 13th in the league in goals allowed per game. It is also having to play very aggressively to do that. The team is already sporting eight yellow cards, exactly twice as many cautions as it earned all of last season.

This week’s matches are the final two tune-ups before Arizona faces a Big 12 slate featuring five ranked teams and one that’s receiving the 26th-most votes in the United Soccer Coaches poll. First up will be No. 13 BYU in Tucson on Sept. 18. There’s very little time for the Wildcats to find their offensive footing before the opposition becomes consistently more difficult.