Hannah Clifford’s hat trick leads Arizona soccer past UTEP in spring opener

Photo by Ryan Kelapire

Arizona soccer is short on players but not on firepower.

Hannah Clifford had a hat trick and Jada Talley added a brace as the Wildcats routed UTEP 5-0 on Saturday to open the spring season.

“We had a lot of reps in practice—me and her, especially—so I’m just happy it carried over because I know we had a lot to do with each other’s goals,” Talley said. “And whether or not she directly assists me, her movement creates space for me to be one-v-one with somebody.”

Talley opened the scoring in the third minute and capped the scoring in the 77th (of 80) minute, battling for a long ball and juking the goalkeeper before firing a shot into an open net.

That came just minutes after Clifford used her back heel to knock in a cross from Jill Aguilera. Her first goal came in similar fashion, one-timing a cross from Grace Santos in the 21st minute.

“Our frontline did a good job moving today,” Clifford said. “I think a lot of times our biggest enemy is not having enough movement up top, and so when we do that, I think it’s hard to stop us.”

Arizona lost seven players to graduation and transfer, leaving them with 14 players in the spring. Two are sidelined with injuries, so Saturday that meant newly-added walk-on Jordan Schulke was the only backup.

“Obviously fatigue is a big thing for us,” Talley said, “but nobody cares.”

The Wildcats looked like the fitter team anyway, outshooting the Miners 14-3 and holding them in their half for most of the match.

“I think it just shows us that we can do it,” Talley said. “We didn’t have any subs but we played 80, I came out for probably five minutes, so it shows you that you can do it. So it’s kind of like, ‘what can you do if you do have a 10-minute sub?’ So I can only get better from here.”

Coming off a 10-goal season, Talley has already shown she can play at a high level. Some of her teammates have a lot more to prove, and the short bench affords them the opportunity to do just that.

Defenders Molly Shannon and Sabrina Hillyer, who both redshirted last season, started Saturday, operating along the flanks. Sophomore Mariah Dunn, who only totaled 60 minutes last season, started in the back alongside junior center back Ava McGary and senior outside back Sabrina Enciso.

The Miners didn’t test UA goalkeeper Hope Hisey until five minutes into the second half when a cross skipped across the mouth of the goal before being cleared to safety.

“I felt like the backline stepped up when they needed to,” Clifford said. “Obviously, we were getting the ball higher up the field a lot of the time, but when it went back there, they definitely did their job and cleaned it up.”

Talley was impressed by the way Madison Goerlinger, a versatile sophomore, commanded the midfield and how Enciso, a three-year starter, steadied the backline.

“Her being an older player, being a senior this year, being able to tell everybody where to go, it’s a big job,” Talley said.

Talley then looked to her left and pointed at Clifford.

“I think my girl played really good,” she said.

Clifford’s three goals were three times as many as she scored in the fall. She was mostly a backup in her first three seasons, but Talley thinks she’s ready for a bigger role.

“She didn’t get as many starts as I would have liked her to have last year and I think she just proved herself right now,” Talley said. “And spring just started, so I’m really excited for season and the rest of spring camp.”

Other notes

• Junior Iyana Zimmerman, one of Arizona’s better attackers, is currently sidelined with a minor knee injury.
• Junior Iliana Hocking, a key midfielder, is out indefinitely with a hip injury.
• As of now, Arizona’s next spring game is Saturday, March 21 against BYU, who are coming off an Elite Eight season.

Postgame interview

Here’s Jada Talley (two goals) and Hannah Clifford (three goals) after @ArizonaSoccer’s 5-0 win over UTEP pic.twitter.com/Zh6bs2wpWQ

— Ryan Kelapire (@RKelapire) March 1, 2020

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