On Friday, Sept. 16, Utah soccer traveled to Orem, Ut. to compete against Utah Valley, but in its first overtime game of the season, the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
“I feel like UVU definitely showed up, and our passing wasn’t really on,” said sophomore July Mathias “There were some things we were lacking in, and we gave them quite a few chances. The defensive end luckily played them out which was good for us, but I know we can do a lot better than the performance we had.”
Throughout the game, the Utes had multiple opportunities to score, but none hit the back of the net, and the same went for UVU.
As the Utes were back on their home field Sunday, Sept. 18, they took on UC Irvine in their first meeting with the school. In an intense match against the Anteaters, Utah took a 1-0 victory.
Overall, both teams showed good possession of the ball and aggressiveness throughout the game, but the Utes were able to overpower the opposing team.
“[Today] was a great game,” Manning said. “It was really good to see that our mindset was positive, and people were ready to work together. A lot of people got in the game and stepped up, and we had really awesome energy this weekend. That’s the part that pleased me the most. [UC Irvine] is a really good team so that was a really good win.”
The first half started off slow for both teams, with both teams taking one shot on goal and two corner kicks. But the Anteaters saw an opportunity to score on a free kick in the 36th minute. However, they were unsuccessful in finding the back of the net. As the first half reached its end, both teams were held scoreless.
As the second half rolled around, both UC Irvine and Utah had a quicker start as UCI led in shots on goal, and Utah led in corner kicks. In the 51st minute, Utah took a 1-0 lead as sophomore Hailey Skolmoski scored the first goal of the game, assisted by freshman Tavia Leachman.
“We killed it today,” Leachman said. “I think coming out and playing on a Sunday is already hard, [but] I think we went out there with a positive mindset.”
For the rest of the game, Utah managed to hold off UC Irvine, not allowing them any chances to score, and ended with 1-0 win over the Southern California team.
“We definitely need to get ready this week with training and start preparing for Pac-12,” Leachman said. “It is a really hard conference, and I think we have a good shot if we keep working the way we have been and working as a team. I think our goal is to just keep on doing what we have been doing.”
Up next for the Utes, they will be back on the road, traveling to Seattle, Wash. on Friday, Sept. 23 to compete against Washington. Kickoff is set to begin at 8:00 p.m.
“We have to keep improving,” Manning said. “I think our defense has improved a lot in the last couple of weeks, and now we have got to get some of the possession and attack.”
@emileewhiteee