The Utah soccer team is happy to be home?very happy. After losing its last three games?all of them on the road?against Portland, San Diego State and UNLV, respectively, the Utes (6-5, 0 2 MWC) will open their home conference play with a Sunday matchup against New Mexico.
Now riding a three-game losing streak, two of the losses in conference play, the Utes desperately need a win. What better place to get it than Ute Field, where the Utes are 4-0, have scored 15 goals and have allowed only one goal?that coming against Arizona? The only team that had a chance to beat Utah at home was Arizona State, when tough defense gave the Utes a 1-0 win. That was the first home game of the year for Utah, and the Utes have only gotten better.
?[To win], we just need to be home,? said Ute coach Amy Winslow. ?Everyone?s tough in conference play.?
?We just need to play,? said assistant coach Jim Winslow. ?If we just take care of our business, we?ll be fine.?
New Mexico, now 2-8-2 overall and 1-0-1 in the MWC, is a fast-improving team. The Lobos started the season winless in its first seven games, going 0-6-1. Since then, New Mexico has gone 2 2-1, with an impressive 1-0 win over Kentucky. Utah lost to then-16th Kentucky 3-0 back in September.
The Lobo defense is credited with the improvement, as it has toughened up. UNM tied its game against Wyoming 0-0 and beat Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo., 2-1.
New Mexico?s offense is not the most powerful, but it can score when it needs to. Freshman Coco D?Angelo leads the Lobos in scoring with two goals and one assist.
The Utes will be looking for some revenge from last year. The Lobos spoiled Utah?s conference opener one year ago 1-0 in Albuquerque. Now the Utes are looking for a little playback.
The Utes have used a much needed week off to their advantage. They took a couple days off and then hit the practice field hard.
Jim Winslow feels that will dramatically help the team, since the Utes began showing some fatigue against UNLV.
?We lost a lot of practice time last week,? he said. ?We didn?t finish our opportunities [against SDSU and UNLV], and that?s because we were not sharp. You could see the exhaustion finally catch up to them.?
?Our team is ready to work hard,? said Ute defender Lesa Zollinger. ?We had a good week of practice, and we want to come out hard against New Mexico.?
Utah has shut-out three of the four teams that have come to Ute Field, and the U defense is not looking for anything less.
?We?re looking for a shutout,? Zollinger said. ?We want to keep the scores against us at home very low.?
Despite dropping their first two conference games, playing at home gives the Utes a tremendous advantage, one that will help them for their next three games, as Wyoming and Air Force will also be in town next week.