Arizona
Quick start at North Carolina could define the season for Arizona soccer
Arizona soccer has gotten out of the gates quickly this season, scoring in the first 11 minutes of two matches on the way to a 3-0 record. When the Wildcats take on No. 5 North Carolina on Sunday morning, they’ll need to be ready early in more ways than one.
UA travels across the country to take on the Tar Heels. The game will kick off at noon as far as UNC is concerned, but that’s 9 a.m. back home for the Wildcats. Arizona head coach Becca Moros was thinking about preparing her players for that trip in more ways than one just minutes after defeating NAU last Thursday evening.
“Number one thing for us right now is recovery,” Moros said. “We have a coast-to-coast travel trip, so there’s some dehydration issues, you get stiff on planes, different things like that. So that’s going to be top priority for us in preparing for that game. But you know the calmness at times that comes over us and we can just play the simple pass, play consistently well, I think those are things that are going to serve us really well against UNC, which is going to have a lot of athleticism, powerful players in the 1-v-1s, be very efficient with their passing and getting it in quickly. So there’s good quality there all across their lineup. So I think that calmness and ability to play our game is hopefully going to come through against them, as well.”
Falling into an early hole is not a good strategy when facing what Moros has called “the most iconic program in college soccer.” The Tar Heels finished last season No. 6 in the RPI and are also headed into the match with a 3-0 record.
That’s not to say that there aren’t things for UNC to overcome. The players found out less than a week before their first match that legendary Tar Heels head coach Anson Dorrance was retiring effective immediately. His associate head coach, Damon Nahas, took over as the interim for the season. Moros doesn’t think that will be any sort of stumbling block.
“Damon’s been lockstep with Anson for years,” Moros said. “So I would expect things to be really smooth transition as far as coaching changes go. I think that’s probably about as smooth a transition as you could get. So I’m sure the players are right there behind Damon, and they’ve already been working with Damon. They were partly recruited by Damon, and he’s very embedded there. And I’m sure Anson did that deliberately and has his communication and motivational speeches for the players in that transition…he’s probably right there supporting the team and all that. I know that’s a huge strength from Anson. So I’m sure he wants to set Damon up for success, and he wants to see his legacy continue with Carolina being successful at every stage of the game.”
The Tar Heels have been pushed in all three of their matches. Each win came by one goal. It started with a 2-1 victory at Denver, then a 3-2 win at Colorado. UNC is coming off a 4-3 victory over No. 16 Georgia in its home opener.
Arizona has been more dominant in its early wins. The Wildcats have yet to concede a goal and have outscored their opponents 11-0, but they have only faced one team that finished in the top 100 of last year’s RPI. That was GCU, which ended at No. 80 last season. Arizona got the 1-0 win on the road against the Lopes.
The game itself is as important as the result, at least for Arizona. Gone are the days of playing Stanford, UCLA, and USC on the way to a solid RPI propped up by a strong conference. The Wildcats now play in the Big 12, where more than half the teams finished outside the top 100 last year and two were outside the top 200. Arizona does not get a boost from playing Texas Tech this year, which was one of two Big 12 teams to finish in the top 11 of the RPI.
A good result could help Arizona recover from an RPI hit that may be even worse than expected. Several Big 12 teams have started out shaky in nonconference play.
Only the Wildcats and Oklahoma State are 3-0 at this point, although Cincinnati and TCU are both 2-0. Both the Cowgirls and the Horned Frogs jumped into the rankings this week. The concerns are with the other teams.
Big 12 teams have already played to five losses and eight draws. Some of those disappointing results come against teams like Northern Arizona, Little Rock, Creighton, and Drake. All of those teams were outside the top 100 last season.
If Arizona wants to improve on the No. 69 RPI that kept it out of last year’s tournament, playing against teams like UNC before conference is important. Getting a positive result could set the Wildcats on the path toward something special in their first year in a new league.
A good showing in Chapel Hill could also show the Big 12 coaches that they greatly underestimated Arizona when they voted them in a tie for 10th in the preseason poll. Several teams that were picked above the Wildcats are among those who have struggled in the early going.
The match between the Tar Heels and Wildcats is the first of a home-and-home arrangement. UNC is due to visit Tucson in two years.
The match will air on ACC Network at 9 a.m. MST on Sunday, Aug. 25.
Lead photo by Rebecca Sasnett / Arizona Athletics
PHOENIX (AP/AZFamily) — The moon will look slightly bigger and brighter Wednesday during the closest supermoon of the year, which can be seen from Arizona!
The moon’s orbit around the Earth isn’t a perfect circle, so it gets nearer and farther as it swings around. A so-called supermoon happens when a full moon is closer to Earth in its orbit. That makes the moon look up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the faintest moon of the year, according to NASA.
November’s supermoon is the second of three supermoons this year and also the closest: The moon will come within just under 222,000 miles of Earth.
Tides may be slightly higher during a supermoon because the moon is closer to Earth, said astronomer Lawrence Wasserman with Lowell Observatory. But the difference isn’t very noticeable.
No special equipment is needed to view the supermoon if clear skies permit. But the change in the moon’s size can be tough to discern with the naked eye.
“The difference is most obvious as a comparison between other images or observations,” said Shannon Schmoll, director of Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University, in an email.
Supermoons happen a few times a year. One in October made the moon look somewhat larger, and another in December will be the last of the year.
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No. 13 Arizona got the season started on the right foot. The Wildcats traveled to Las Vegas and took down the defending champions, No. 3 Florida, behind an aggressive effort inside the arc, winning 93-87.
GREAT DAY TO BE A WILDCAT!! #BearDown🐻⬇️ pic.twitter.com/hNKlIYIMCj
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) November 4, 2025
Tommy Lloyd’s new-look Wildcats opened the Hall of Fame Series with three freshmen in the starting lineup. Koa Peat, Ivan Kharchenkov, and Brayden Burries all found themselves in the starting five, while fellow freshman Dwayne Aristode found minutes off the bench in the eight-man rotation.
The Wildcats also got a strong showing from arguably its most important piece: veteran guard Jaden Bradley. Guard play is so important in early games to offset some of the rust that teams are bound to have. Arizona had the more experienced option, and it paid off.
Bradley scored 27 points on 9-of-14 from the field. He added five assists and picked a pair of pockets in the win. His leadership allowed the rest of the Wildcats to settle in to more defined roles, letting the offense hit its stride.
While Burries had an off night and Aristode only spent six minutes on the floor, the other two freshmen who saw action were instrumental to the team’s success.
Peat led the way with a 30-piece as his hello to collegiate basketball. The highly-touted freshman isn’t totally new to Lloyd’s system. He played under Lloyd on the Team USA U19 National Team over the summer, where he said he got a head start on learning his role.
His role on Monday? Barrel his way down low and finish at the rim, with a splash of playmaking in between. He added seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block to his line. He shot 11-of-18 from the field, all within the arc, and sunk 8-of-12 from the line.
Peat became the first player to score post at least 30 points, five assists, five rebounds and three steals in their collegiate debut since 2002, and he did so against Florida’s championship-level front court. Alex Condon and Thomas Haugh had no answer for the Arizona freshman.
With just under seven minutes left in the game, tied at 70-70, Peat got the crowd buzzing. Peat set a pick and rolled to the basket, leaped and reached sky-high for a lob from Anthony Dell’Orso, and slammed it home with his right hand.
With the crowd on it’s feet, Peat served up an encore for the Las Vegas audience. After grabbing a board on the next possession, Peat jogged right down the middle lane and jammed it down with two hands, this time with a feed from Bradley.
KOA. PEAT. 😤😤😤 @kpeat10 pic.twitter.com/q4NMmIP4Qi
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) November 4, 2025
It was a nearly flawless debut for Peat, and it instantly raised the alrady high expectations he has in Tucson.
“It was a coming out party for him, so to speak,” Lloyd said postgame. “Everyone’s known about him, but no one’s really studied him and watched him. He’s a special player. The way he came out in that atmosphere, and he went against a first team All-American, and that kid’s a heck of a player. Koa obviously more than held his own.”
The freshman from Germany and Bayern Munich alum earned a spot in the starting lineup over the veteran sharpshooter Dell’Orso, and made Lloyd look like a genius in doing so.
In 35 minutes of action, Kharchenkov had 12 points and 10 rebounds, recording a double-double in his Wildcats debut. He also nailed both of his shots from long range, which happened to be the only triples Arizona hit in the game on five tries.
Kharchenkov departed for the locker room during the first half, but later returned and finished the game strong. He’s a guy that’s been on Lloyd’s radar for awhile, and now it’s all coming to fruition.
BANGGGGGG🔥 Cats lead 47-42 with 2:23 left in the first half pic.twitter.com/lWgRglsSqW
— Arizona Basketball (@ArizonaMBB) November 4, 2025
“He just turned 19, but he’s played high level basketball,” Lloyd said. “He was coached by a guy named Pablo Laso. You guys might not know that name, but he was also the guy that coached Luka Doncic at Real Madrid. I’ve gotten to know Coach Laso over the years. A couple years ago Coach Laso was the head coach of Bayern Munich, where Ivan was playing, and so I obviously called to do my homework, and he’s just like, ‘Tommy, you’re going to be blown away how ready he is from day one.’
“He’s also had some ups and downs and practices, but for him to come out today like he did on this stage, was impressive,” Lloyd continued. “Because what I’ve been on is you know what about rebounding, and he led us in rebounding tonight. So that shows me he’s a good learner, so it probably gives me the liberty to keep getting on him.”
If Kharchenkov can be another reliable piece for three this season, assuming the Wildcats shoot more than they did on Monday, Arizona can truly be a complete offense and a threat from every spot on the floor. It was definitely a positive sign to see him step in so seamlessly to the college game.
What are your thoughts on Peat and Kharchenkov in Arizona’s win over the Gators? Tell us by commenting on our X account. Just click the link and be sure give us a follow.
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