Kate Connelly goes up for a header on a corner kick in first half action. (Andy Morales/AllSportsTucson)
FC Tucson Women fell to Arizona Arsenal FC 1-0 at home Friday night and the loss put Tucson in third place in the WPSL Desert Conference with 11 points with SC del Sol and Arsenal at the top with 13 points each.
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Tucson will get a bump from the canceled match with Atomic City FC however, which is measured at 1.8 at the moment. If Tucson beats SC del Sol next Saturday in Phoenix the club will get five points total according to WPSL rules on the canceled match (3 points via victory play plus 2 points for the canceled match) which would put the club at 16 points.
The formula for the canceled match is the average points for all matches played. The Club would finish with a 4-1-2 record so the average over seven matches would be “2 points.”
No other scenario works if Tucson is unable to take care of business next week. SC del Sol (4-1-1) plays at Arsenal tonight. The best scenario for Tucson there would be a draw, giving each club 1 point. Arsenal has one more match at Atomic City (2-3) in Las Vegas next Friday night. A draw or Atomic City victory would help Tucson.
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In the match Friday night, Tucson put together 15 shots but the club could not find the back of the next. The crossbar was hit three times, including twice late in the second half. Arsenal managed seven shots with a game-winner coming in the 62nd minute off of a mixer on a corner kick.
“It’s gonna hurt a little bit, but it’s a part of the process,” said FC Tucson Women head coach Kelly Pierce in a release. “If we don’t learn from our mistakes, we’re not going to grow, we’re not going to improve. So, this one is going to sting. We move on because we have a huge game moving forward. The result doesn’t show it but we did have a lot of good moments.”
Tucson will lose several players to their collegiate assignments this week and, presumably, this will be a conference-wide issue this late in the summer season.
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Named one of “Arizona’s Heart & Sol” by KOLD and Casino del Sol, Andy Morales was recognized by the AIA as the top high school reporter in 2014, he was awarded the Ray McNally Award in 2017 and a 2019 AZ Education News recognition. He was a youth, high school and college coach for over 30 years. He was the first …….