Hansen's Sunday Notebook: Arizona soccer misses golden opportunity

Cats miss golden opportunity in loss to visiting Sun Devils 

I sat in my car in a faraway parking spot near Plumer Avenue and 15th Street on Friday evening, reviewing a few items scribbled on a notepad.

• Arizona’s star soccer player, Gabi Stoian, wears jersey No. 9; I was eager to watch her play in a Territorial Cup series game.

• ASU went 0-7-1 during a midseason stretch.

• A payback angle: The Wildcats were 3-16-1 against ASU soccer teams, 2-8 in Tucson.

• Mulcahy Stadium seats about 900; the UA expected almost 1,300 for Senior Night, creating a standing-room-only area.

• An Arizona victory would enable Tony Amato’s team to finish third in the Pac-12, setting up an unprecedented NCAA tournament game at Mulcahy Stadium.

Clearly, the small soccer facility was abuzz with expectations.

When I squeezed through the sideline crowd, the first thing I noticed was a small pocket of Sun Devil fans, maroon and gold, seated in the bleachers.

They seemed so out of place on a night staged to celebrate the UA’s rise as a soccer power.

The second thing I noticed was that No. 9, Stoian, was not on the field. A pulled quad muscle would keep her sidelined. It was like the UA playing a football game without Scooby Wright.

I don’t know much about soccer, but when ASU’s Cali Farquharson scored 52 seconds into the game, the first of her three goals, a sense of dread engulfed the intimate soccer stadium.

The Sun Devils won so easily, 4-1, that I wondered if I showed up at the wrong place.

This is what Sun Devil coach Kevin Boyd said after the game: “I love the crowd that they had tonight. I love our crowd when it gets like this. There were a lot of people, it was loud, and we love that atmosphere. These are the games you enjoy the most.”

Fun?

Wait ’til next year.

No surprise Skieresz chosen No. 1 

Amy Skieresz-Wilson was the favorite when she ran her final race in an Arizona Wildcats uniform, November 1998, at the NCAA cross-country championships in Lawrence, Kansas.

There was one unknown, a very big unknown: She feared she might have cancer in her right thigh, a lingering injury that had abbreviated her training. Yet with seven NCAA titles in cross-country and distance events, the senior from Agoura Hills, California, kept on running.

Skieresz somehow finished second on that autumn afternoon in Kansas, limping noticeably the final half mile. It remains one of the most compelling athletic events I’ve witnessed.

Last week, Amy was chosen the Pac-12’s Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Century. Looking back, it’s no surprise. She won three Honda Awards in distance running, which is that sport’s equivalent of the Heisman Award.

She retired from running three months before the 2000 Sydney Olympics, telling me “running isn’t a lifestyle I want to pursue.” She married Arkansas All-America distance runner Ryan Wilson and spent two years as a UA assistant coach. Amy and Ryan and their three children now live in Palm Desert, California. Ryan is the vice president of a wealth management company.

After Amy retired from competitive running, I would often see her jogging near Reid Park, or on the Rillito trail, incognito, just another athlete out for a run.

But to those fortunate to have watched her run at Arizona, she was never “just another anything.” She was the best.

Salpointe grad Busch leads Virginia swim team to No. 1 

Salpointe Catholic grad Augie Busch, who coached the Lancers’ swimming team in 1999 and 2000 and who assisted his father Frank Busch at Arizona from 2003-11, is coach of the No. 1 Virginia Cavaliers in the first College Swimming Coaches Association of America poll of the season. Busch coached the Cavs to No. 5 in the NCAA finals last year. His staff is also Tucson-centric; ex-UA All-American Cory Chitwood and Augie’s brother, Sam Busch, are Virginia’s two top assistant swimming coaches. 

Ex-Cats Hale, Dickson share stories with UA players 

First-year UA baseball coach Jay Johnson wraps up fall practice Sunday at Hi Corbett Field with a 1 p.m. intrasquad scrimmage. As a key part of the weekend, Diamondbacks manager Chip Hale and ex-Cubs pitcher Lance Dickson talked to the UA players and staff about their days in a Wildcat uniform. 

Salpointe's Werbylo now on college recruiting radar 

When Salpointe junior Trevor Werbylo finished second in the state golf championships last week at Randolph North, which included a sizzling 5-under 67 in the first round, it put him on the college recruiting map. Werbylo has some impressive sports genes: His aunt, Cindy Rarick, a Sahuaro High grad, won five LPGA championships in the 1980s and 1990s. His father, Roger Werbylo, coached CDO to the 1979 and 1984 state baseball titles, and then led Pima College to the 1992 NJCAA championship game. 

Pacers abandon ex-Cat Hill for another former Wildcat 

It’s strange to see the Indiana Pacers virtually abandon Solomon Hill, Arizona’s 2013 All –Pac-12 forward. Hill led the Pacers in overall minutes played last year (2,311) in 78 starts. But this season Indiana has benched Hill (he has played just two minutes), giving his minutes to ex-Wildcat Chase Budinger, among others. Why is this happening? Indiana changed its offense to “pace and space,” and Hill is more of a methodical, physical player. Hill will be paid $1.38 million this year.

Ex-Panther to get big-head treatment 

At Sunday’s Arizona-Chico State practice game at McKale Center, you may see a “cutout head” of an unfamiliar figure. It is Lucas Gabriel, Chico State’s assistant head coach. The cutout will be displayed by Gabriel’s former Amphitheater High School basketball teammate Andy Jagodowski. Both were key players for Amphi’s top teams of 2002 and 2003. Gabriel is a basketball junkie who played at College of the Siskiyous and NAU after leaving Tucson. He has since coached at Fresno City College, Bellevue (Nebraska) University and is in his second stint at Chico State. Gabriel and Jagodowski remain close friends; Jagodowski is part of the college of education faculty at Grand Canyon University. 

Tucsonan Cotton opens season in D-League 

Palo Verde High School grad Bryce Cotton, released by the Utah Jazz in October, will open the season with the NBA D-League’s Austin Spurs. Ex-Arizona point guard Josiah Turner opens his third D-League season with the Reno Bighorns. 

Ex-Cat McConnell's numbers better than Stanley so far 

T.J. McConnell’s remarkable NBA start with the Philadelphia 76ers includes better numbers than former teammate and lottery pick Stanley Johnson of the Pistons. Through Friday’s games, McConnell was averaging 27 minutes and shooting 52 percent; Johnson was averaging 18 minutes and shooting 29 percent. Who knew? 

Red Bulls goalie Robles' success can be traced to TSA

New York Red Bulls goalie Luis Robles, who was the Arizona Gatorade Soccer Player of the Year in 2002 at Sierra Vista Buena High, has started 107 consecutive games for the Red Bulls, who continue in the MLS playoffs Sunday. Robles’ development can be traced to the Tucson Soccer Academy, where he was coached by Wolfgang Weber. 

Former Bobcat Gonzales off to hot start for Navy 

Part of Navy’s success in a 6-1 start this football season is the play of junior linebacker Daniel Gonzales, a Cienega High grad. Gonzales had made 41 tackles entering Saturday’s game against unbeaten Memphis. Gonzales made 86 tackles a year ago.

Former UA assistant Babers likely on everybody's list 

Dino Babers was a 37-year-old “beginner” as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of Arizona’s 12-1 team of 1998. He was a rising star.

But when Dick Tomey was asked to resign in 2000, Babers’ career detoured. He coached at Texas A&M, Pitt and UCLA before being re-discovered under Art Briles at Baylor.

Now Babers, 54, is on everyone’s must-hire list. On Saturday, CBS analyst Rick Neuheisel predicted Babers will be the next head coach of the Miami Hurricanes.

Babers went 12-2 as head coach at Eastern Illinois in 2013. He then was hired by Bowling Green. This year he is 7-2, with victories over Purdue and Maryland. More impressive, Bowling Green is averaging 593 yards and 46 points a game.

Before arriving at Arizona in 1994, Babers first coached under Tomey at Hawaii in 1984. As the Rich Rodriguez saga develops, don’t be surprised if you hear Babers’ name connected to Arizona and every other Power 5 conference opening.

UA's Candrea already recruiting for several seasons down the line 

When the top high school softball players sign letters of intent Wednesday, Arizona coach Mike Candrea is expected to announce an elite-level class of 2016 with at least four players. What he won’t announce is that he already has a commitment in the class of 2020. That’s how far in advance college recruiters work these days. Candrea got a commitment from Giulia Koutsoyanopulos, a 13-year-old first baseman-outfielder who is in eighth grade and expects to play for SoCal’s Los Alamitos High School a year from now. Koutsoyanopulos visited Arizona on Oct. 16-17 after emerging as a top prospect in Candrea’s Arizona Elite Camp earlier in the month, and played for ex-UA standout third baseman Toni Mascarenas on the AAU 14-U national championship team this summer. 

First-year pitchers contributing to Arizona softball's fall success 

The most telling development of Arizona’s fall softball schedule was the effectiveness of first-year pitchers Taylor McQuillin and Dani O’Toole, who won 33 games at San Diego State in 2014. In 34 innings, McQuillin and O’Toole walked just one better and struck out 46. Those numbers were created against junior-college players, but it’s an indication that Candrea again has the type of pitching that could lead to the Women’s College World Series. 

CDO's Kaiser commits to Syracuse 

More advanced recruiting: Alexis Kaiser, who hit a team-leading .583 as a freshman catcher at Canyon del Oro last season, has made a commitment to attend Syracuse and play softball for the Orange. Kaiser, who is in the class of 2018, is the daughter of former Arizona linebacker John Kaiser, who played for the Buffalo Bills and Seattle Seahawks from 1984-87 after being an All-Pac-10 honorable mention linebacker for the Wildcats in 1983. 

Ex-Cats Cecil, Hunley celebrate birthdays 

Sunday is the 51st birthday of Chuck Cecil, Arizona’s Hall of Fame safety of 1984-87. Cecil is the defensive backs coach of the St. Louis Rams. Wednesday is the 54th birthday of Ricky Hunley, Arizona’s Hall of Fame linebacker of 1980-83. Hunley is the defensive line coach of the undefeated Memphis Tigers.

My two cents: Tucson could be shut out of state title games here

The Arizona Interscholastic Association has scheduled the Division II and Division III state football championships for Saturday, Nov. 28 at Arizona Stadium.

It’s beginning to look more and more like there won’t be a Tucson team involved. Won’t that be a bit awkward?

In Division II, Ironwood Ridge is the lone Tucson team among the eight quarterfinalists. In Division III, Catalina Foothills is the only Tucson team in the bracket; Jeff Scurran’s team plays at No. 1 Paradise Valley this week.

If the two championship games are all-Phoenix affairs, it won’t be anything new. As recently as May, Tucson and Canyon del Oro met in the state baseball title game in Phoenix, one of countless times an all-Tucson finale was played in Phoenix.

The AIA knows how it goes. In 2010, Santa Rita and Amphi played the state championship basketball game in Prescott, of all places. Attendance? About 300.

What goes around comes around.

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