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.