Arizona soccer notebook: Lorraine Quinn hired as assistant coach, an early look at the 2021 schedule, and more

New Arizona soccer head coach Becca Moros made her first assistant coaching hire on Thursday, bringing in former Duke teammate Lorraine Quinn.

“I am incredibly honored to be joining the Wildcat family,” Quinn said in a statement. “I cannot wait for the opportunity to help lead our student-athletes in their pursuit of excellence. Our staff will be fully dedicated to building champions in the classroom and on the field. I look forward to getting our journey underway, Bear Down!”

Quinn has been an assistant coach at Texas State since 2018. According to her school-produced bio, her primary duties involved “recruiting, technical development of field players, oversight of team conditioning, travel coordinator and video breakdown and analysis of the team and opponents.”

Before coaching at Texas State, Quinn was an assistant/associate head coach at Army for five seasons and William & Mary for one, when the Tribe won a CAA conference title. Like Moros, Quinn is from New York and was an All-American at Duke, starring for the Blue Devils from 2004 to 2008.

Quinn had extensive U.S. national team experience early in her playing career, appearing for the Under-23, Under-19, Under-17 and Under-16 teams.

Quinn’s college coaching experience—and the recruiting knowledge that comes with it—are important since Moros is green in both areas.

“I’m excited to welcome Lorraine to our technical staff,” Moros said in a statement. “She has a sophisticated soccer mind, excels at player development, and will work tirelessly on behalf of the players and program to help us reach our goals. I look forward to working with her and I know our student-athletes will benefit greatly from her expertise on and off the field.”

In case you missed it, here is my feature on Moros and her vision for Arizona soccer moving forward.

The 2021 schedule hasn’t been released yet, but will be soon. In the meantime, we can connect some dots...

The Wildcats are one of only two Pac-12 teams yet to release their 2021 schedule. The other is Oregon State, which also made a coaching change this summer. The good news is that because so many games have been announced by other schools, we have a good idea of what Arizona’s schedule will look like when it is announced (probably next week).

Here’s a list of the confirmed games. (Note: NAU should be on the schedule too. Starting in the 2021-22 academic year, Arizona has a 10-year scheduling series with the Lumberjacks in “all sports that are sponsored by both athletics departments.”)

• Friday, Aug. 20 — at Utah Valley
• Thursday, Sept. 2 — vs. LSU (in Tempe)
• Sunday, Sept. 5 — vs. Cal State Northridge (in Tempe)
• Thursday, Sept. 9 — vs. Texas Tech
• Sunday, Sept. 12 — vs. Nebraska
• Friday, Sept. 24 — at Washington State
• Thursday, Sept. 30 — vs. UCLA
• Sunday, Oct. 3 — vs. USC
• Thursday, Oct. 7 — at Oregon
• Sunday, Oct. 11 — at Oregon State
• Friday, Oct. 15 — vs. Washington
• Thursday, Oct. 21 — at Cal
• Sunday, Oct. 24 — at Stanford
• Thursday, Oct. 28 — vs. Utah
• Sunday, Oct. 31 — vs. Colorado
• Friday, Nov. 5 — vs. ASU

Utah Valley, NAU and Cal State Northridge are strong mid-majors. UVU won the WAC last season, NAU had to forfeit the Big Sky Tournament championship game because of COVID protocols, and CSUN went 12-7-3 in 2019. (It did not play in 2020-21 due to the pandemic.)

Texas Tech is usually one of the best teams in the Big 12. Nebraska and LSU are mixed bags.

Before Tony Amato left for Florida, he told me Arizona had also agreed to play Gonzaga and an exhibition against Grand Canyon. It’s unclear if that will still be the case. Neither school has released its schedule yet. Gonzaga would be another formidable mid-major opponent. The Bulldogs have had a winning record every year since 2017.

We’ll have a more in-depth breakdown when the schedule is finalized.

Hope Hisey, Sabrina Enciso and a few former Wildcats win Desert Conference with FC Tucson

Arizona junior goalkeeper Hope Hisey and fifth-year senior defender Sabrina Enciso clinched a Desert Conference championship with FC Tucson on Wednesday by taking down SC del Sol 3-0 in Phoenix.

FC Tucson, whose women’s team plays in the WPSL, improved to 6-0-1 heading into this Saturday’s matchup with the El Paso Surf, a team they beat 2-1 on June 4. FC Tucson leads the five-team Desert Division in goals scored (19) while also allowing the fewest goals (5).

FC Tucson has a few former Wildcats too in midfielder Jaden Bailey—the UA all-time assist leader—and defenders Laura and Priscilla Pimienta.

UA transfers find new homes

The Wildcats saw four bench players enter the transfer portal before the head coaching change. They have all landed at new schools:

• Sabrina Hillyer, D —> UTSA
• Molly Shannon, D —> Villanova
• Sami Hauk, GK —> Nebraska
• Alex Day, MF —> Utah State

Moros’ introductory press conference set for July 19

In the meantime, check out my interview with her from late June: