Arizona soccer’s comeback at Utah falls short after controversial non-call

Arizona soccer couldn’t complete the comeback in a 2-1 loss at Utah on Sunday, though it appeared they might have.

In the 76th minute, Jada Talley banged a rocket off the bottom of the crossbar and the ball seemed to bounce past the goal line before spinning back to the field of play where it was eventually cleared by the Utes.

The quality of Utah’s live stream was ridiculously poor (unless you love watching ants play soccer) but even it appears to show there was some grass between the ball and goal line.

“Even [with] the quality of this live stream u can see that’s IN!!!” UA goalkeeper Hope Hisey tweeted.

Here’s a closer look:

Yet, there was no goal and a critical road trip to the Rocky Mountains ended without a win. Arizona now sits at 8-5-1 overall and 3-5-1 in the Pac-12 heading into the regular-season finale at ASU.

“I’m still heated,” Talley tweeted after the game.

After surrendering two first-half goals in the 26th minute, the Wildcats scored in the 50th minute when the Utah keeper could not corral a powerful long shot by Jill Aguilera, her team-high eighth goal of the season.

That set the tone for a second half that Arizona was the aggressor in. They outshot Utah 13-11 for the game and 9-3 in the final 45 minutes, plus a 3-1 edge in corner kicks.

Hisey kept the Wildcats alive with a diving save in the 83rd minute, ricocheting a close, angled shot to safety.

She came forward in the final minute as Arizona tried to make one last charge and booted a ball deep into the box, slightly out of reach of an Arizona attacker. (I would like to tell you which one, but it’s hard to tell because of the stream.)

The Wildcats now probably need to win at ASU next week to have a shot at the NCAA Tournament.

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