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WHAT'S HAPPENING: The University of Arizona women's soccer team (3-6-1) takes to the road again this weekend to kick off Pac-10 play in Oregon. The Wildcats play at Oregon State on Friday, Oct. 6, at 2 p.m., then they take on Oregon on Sunday, Oct. 8, at 1 p.m.

Sunday's contest at Oregon will be broadcast by Fox Sports Net on a taped-delay basis. The game will be shown on Fox Sports Net Arizona on Tuesday, Oct. 17, at 1 p.m. MST and again on Saturday, Oct. 21, at 1:30 p.m. MST.

ABOUT ARIZONA: On a modest two-game win streak, the Wildcats improved to 3-6-1 over the weekend with wins over Long Island (2-1 OT) and Northern Arizona (1-0) at home in their own Starwoods Plaza Soccer Classic. The weekend's victories ended a three-game winless streak for the Cats and gave them their first back-to-back wins since October 1999.

Junior forward Kristi Loroa added another goal to her tally over the weekend and took over the UA scoring lead with four goals (eight points) on the year. Senior Keri Kennedy-Weber and freshman Liz Bartlett are tied for second with three goals (six points) each. Bartlett leads the team with 26 shots on the season.

Sophomore Naomi Chu has one goal and two assists (four points), followed by freshman forward Meaghan McNatt and junior midfielder Twila Kaufman with one goal and one assist apiece.

Junior goalkeeper Shannon Monti has started all 10 matches, garnering 829 minutes played, 41 saves and a goals-against average of 2.50. Senior goalkeeper Inger Airheart has played 143 minutes off the bench, logging four saves and a GAA of 1.26. The two combined for the team's first shutout of the year against Northern Arizona last Saturday.

ABOUT OREGON STATE: The Beavers stand at an even 6-6-0 on the season after losses at home to then-21st-ranked Florida State (1-2) and Pepperdine (0-3) last weekend. OSU has lost five of its last seven matches.

With five goals (10 points), sophomore forward Dante Lipfert leads Oregon State in scoring. Sophomore midfielders Morgan Crabtree (one goal, four assists) and Katie Henderson (two goals, two assists) are tied for second with six points each. Freshman forward Stephanie Lucas has two goals and one assist (five points).

Senior goalkeeper Jerika Duran has played in 10 matches, tallying 801 minutes, 34 saves, one shutout and a 1.12 goals-against average. Fellow senior Elizabeth Pease has seen time in the nets in six matches, collecting 331 minutes, 10 saves and a 2.18 GAA.

Third-year head coach Steve Fennah (Sheffield and Hallamshire, 1986) has a 20-29-2 record at the helm of the Oregon State program.

ABOUT OREGON: Losing eight of their last nine matches, the Ducks stand at 3-8-0 overall after a 1-0 loss to then-No. 21Florida State at home last Sunday. Oregon plays host to Arizona State on Friday before taking on the Wildcats on Sunday.

Junior forward Crystal David holds the Oregon scoring lead with three goals and two assists (eight points). Junior midfielder Chalise Baysa is a close second, with three goals and one assist (seven points), followed by junior foward Beth Bowler's two goals and one assist (five points).

Sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Peters has played in 10 matches, with 822 minutes played, 73 saves and a 3.17 goals-against average. Fellow sophomore Jeanine Norstad has seen action in three matches, collecting 168 minutes, nine saves and a 2.14 GAA.

Head coach Bill Steffen (SUNY-Albany, 1982) is 26-54-6 in five years at Oregon.

THE SERIES: Oregon State holds the 3-2-0 lead in the series with Arizona, despite the Cats' 4-1 win in last season's meeting. The Wildcats are 0-2-0 all-time in Corvallis.

Oregon leads the series with the UA, 2-0-1, including the scoreless tie between the two teams last year.

LAST TIME vs. OSU: In Tucson on Nov. 5, 1999, the Cats ended a 20-game Pac-10 losing skid with a 4-1 win over Oregon State. Kristi Loroa registered her first career hat trick in the game, just the fourth in school history.

LAST TIME vs. OREGON: On Nov. 7, 1999, in Tucson, Arizona wrapped up its season with a 0-0 overtime tie with Oregon. The Ducks outshot the Cats, 27-16, and UA goalkeeper Inger Airheart made 11 saves. Loroa and Tiffany Sabado each had three shots for the Cats.

ARIZONA'S LAST TIME OUT: A pair of victories at home over the weekend gave the Wildcats the title at their own Starwoods Plaza Soccer Classic and ended a three-game winless streak.

On Sept. 29, the Wildcats played their school-record fifth overtime game of the season and edged Long Island, 2-1.

After both teams went scoreless through the first half, Long Island struck early in the second period, scoring a header off a corner kick at the 46:03 mark. At 52:40, Wildcat freshman Liz Bartlett took a through-ball from sophomore Naomi Chu, then dribbled past the LIU goalkeeper to score the equalizer.

Neither team scored for the remainder of regulation, forcing the Cats' fifth overtime game of the year, a new school record. It was Bartlett who gave the Cats the victory just 3:21 into the overtime, with a dribble-through goal that was a virtual repeat of her first goal of the match.

Arizona outshot Long Island, 21-10, with Bartlett tallying a game-high five shots. Wildcat goalkeepers Shannon Monti and Inger Airheart split time in the nets, with Airheart collecting three saves while allowing one goal.

On Sept. 30, the Cats registered their first shutout of the year and won the tournament with a 1-0 victory over in-state rival Northern Arizona. The win gave the UA its first back-to-back victories since October, 1999.

The lone goal of the game was scored by Wildcat junior foward Kristi Loroa, who rebounded her own shot and then found the net at 36:57 in the first half. Even though NAU outshot the Cats, 10-3, in the second period, neither team scored for the remainder of the contest.

Despite Arizona's 9-5 first-half shots advantage, Northern Arizona finished with a 15-12 edge in shots for the game. Bartlett registered a game-high seven shots, including four on-goal.

UA goalkeepers Monti and Airheart combined for four saves and registered the Cats' first shutout of the year.

ARIZONA HEAD COACH CATHY KLEIN: First-year head coach Cathy Klein (SUNY-Cortland, 1987) holds an 3-6-1 mark at the helm of the Arizona program. She has a Division I career record of 60-47-2 over six years and is 82-100-7 in 11 years as a head coach.

Klein was named as the Wildcats' new head coach last January. She came to the UA after a five-year stint building a new women's soccer program at Iowa State. In four varsity seasons with the Cyclones, Klein garnered a 43-37-1 mark. Before Iowa State, Klein was head coach at Creighton and Division III schools Earlham College and Utica College.

THE REST OF THE STAFF: In her first season at the UA, Melissa Estrada (Creighton, 1995) followed Cathy Klein from Iowa State, where Estrada was part of Klein's coaching staff for four years. She assists with recruiting and works with the field players.

Assistant coach Andre Luciano (Indiana, 1993) is in his second year on the sidelines for Arizona, after stints at Utah State and Washington State. His primary responsibilities at the UA are coaching the goalkeepers and working in the recruiting efforts.

PRACTICE SCHEDULE: All daily practices during the regular season, until Nov. 5, will be held from 2:30-4:30 p.m.

Media are encouraged to attend all practices but are not permitted to converse with coaches or players during practice. Media are permitted to interview coaches or players after practice only if an interview has been pre-arranged. All practices and games are conducted at Murphey Soccer Stadium, 15th and Plumer.

LOOKING AHEAD: The Wildcats return home next weekend for a pair of Pac-10 matches against the Washington schools. On Friday, Oct. 13, Arizona faces Washington State at 7 p.m., then the Cats take on Washington on Sunday, Oct. 15, at 1 p.m. Both matches will be played at the UA's Murphey Stadium.

IT'S JUST A LITTLE EXTRA TIME: The Wildcats are coming off a weekend that saw them play yet another overtime match and set a new school record for number of overtime contests in a season. Arizona has played five overtime games so far this year, surpassing the previous school record of four set by the 1998 team. The Cats have also set a new school record for most overtime wins in a season, with two.

SCORING IN BUNCHES: For the most part, the Wildcats who have scored this season haven't been content with merely denting the net once. Senior Keri Kennedy-Weber scored a trio of goals in as many games earlier this season. Freshman Liz Bartlett racked up both goals in a 2-1 overtime victory over Long Island last weekend. Most recently, junior Kristi Loroa has collected four goals over the last four matches, including the only goal of a 1-0 win over Northern Arizona last weekend.

NOTING THE PAC-10: The 2000 season has been good to the Pac-10 women's soccer teams so far, although only California (10-0-1) remains undefeated on the year. Washington, Arizona State, UCLA and USC each has only one loss. Five conference teams -- UCLA, California, Washington, Stanford and USC -- are all ranked in the adidas/NSCAA Coaches Poll this week.

As a team, Arizona is tied for third in the Pac-10 in fouls (147), is sixth in saves (45), eighth in goals per game (1.40), tied for eighth in goals scored (14), tied for eighth in shutouts (one), ninth in assists (9) and ninth in total points (37). Junior goalkeeper Shannon Monti is fifth in the conference with 41 saves.

CLOSE BUT...: The outcome of seven of the Wildcats' 10 games this season has been decided by one goal or less. In the seven-year history of the Arizona soccer program, 52 matches have been decided by that one-goal-or-less differential.

ON LOCATION: The Wildcats are 2-2-0 at home, 1-4-0 on the road and 0-0-1 in neutral games this season. Last year, Arizona garnered a 4-4-2 mark at home, was 1-6-0 on the road and was 2-0-0 in neutral matches.

SCHEDULE STRENGTH: A number of the Wildcats' 2000 opponents are ranked in this week's polls.

In the adidas/NSCAA Coaches Poll, UCLA is No. 5, California is No. 7, Washington is No. 9, Stanford is No. 13, USC is No. 21 and Brigham Young is No. 24.

The Soccer America Top 20 has UCLA at No. 5, Washington at No. 8, California at No. 9, Stanford at No. 13, USC at No. 15 and Brigham Young at No. 17.

In this week's SoccerBuzz.com national rankings, UCLA is No. 5, California is No. 7, Stanford is No. 9, USC is No. 11, Washington is No. 12, Brigham Young is No. 19 and Arizona State is No. 21.

In the American Soccer Writers Poll, UCLA stands at No. 5, Washington is No. 8, California is No. 9, Stanford is No. 12, USC is No. 15, Brigham Young is No. 20 and Arizona State is No. 21.

TWICE IS NICE: Traditionally, the Cats have fared rather well when scoring two or more goals in a match. The UA won the only contest so far this season in which it scored more than two goals.

Over the seven years of Wildcat soccer, the UA has a 28-16-1 record when scoring two goals or more.

CAT SCRATCHES: 14 different players have started one game or more for the Wildcats this year... Seven players have started every match so far... The UA played five nationally ranked opponents last year, more than in any other season in the program's history... The Cats could be faced with just as many ranked opponents this season, if five members of the Pac-10 continue to be nationally ranked, as they are now.

IT'S A FIRST: Several Wildcats have had a number of collegiate "firsts" this year. Senior Keri Kennedy-Weber, sophomore Naomi Chu and freshmen Liz Bartlett and Meaghan McNatt all scored their first collegiate goals this season. Chu, McNatt, senior Ann Giallonardo, juniors Twila Kaufman and Erin Nelson and freshmen Sierra Cristiano and Lisa Mireles have each garnered their first collegiate assists this year as well.

LOCAL CONNECTION: The 2000 Wildcat roster features four players from Tucson-area high schools -- Niki Aguiar (Mountain View), Kristi Loroa (Canyon del Oro), Erin Nelson (Sabino) and Kate Nighswander-Will (Catalina Foothills).

1999 IN BRIEF: The University of Arizona women's soccer team wrapped up the 1999 season with 7-10-2 overall and 1-7-1 Pac-10 marks. The team set or tied 28 school records, including most goals in a season (30) and fewest losses (10). The Wildcats more than doubled their number of wins from the year before (three) and finished eighth in the league standings, up two spots from 1998.

INDIVIDUALLY IN 1999: The now-departed Chrissy Sanford was among the Pac-10's top five scorers all last season and tied the Arizona school records for single-season goals scored (11) and total points (27).

Forward Tiffany Sabado was the Wildcats' second-leading scorer, with six goals and three assists (15 points). Forward Kristi Loroa finished in third place with five goals and two assists (12 points).

Goalkeeper Inger Airheart amassed 64 saves, a goals-against average of 2.04 and a pair of shutouts, while playing in 12 contests. Keeper Shannon Monti collected 52 saves, two shutouts and a 2.94 GAA in 12 games in the nets.

PAC-10 COACHES POLL: UCLA was tabbed by the league's coaches as the favorite to win the Pac-10 crown this year, while the rebuilding Wildcats were picked to finish 10th.

        Pac-10 Preseason Women's Soccer Coaches Poll
        1.      UCLA            7.      Oregon
        2.      Stanford        8.      Oregon State
        3.      USC             9.      Washington St.
        4.      California      10.     ARIZONA
        t5.     Arizona State
        t5.     Washington