Back to the Arizona Wildcats Newsfeed

Q&A: Samantha Falasco on the ASU rivalry, her famous goal, and playing center back

Samantha Falasco never expected to start for the Arizona Wildcats as a freshman. She knew the Pac-12 is not a welcoming place for inexperienced center backs.

“I didn’t expect to do anything and then next thing I know I’m sitting in the locker room and Gabi (Stoian) came up to me and said before our (first) exhibition, ‘you’re starting, so get ready,’” Falasco recalled.

“And I was shaking. I was like, ‘you’re lying.’”

Nope.

Falasco started that night and has rarely come off the field since.

Now a junior, Falasco has made 50 starts — and counting — the past three seasons, solidifying an Arizona backline that currently ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in goals-against average.