The Utah soccer team defeated in-state rival Utah State 2-0 Thursday, as Amy Kofoed and Shauna Gurr Bingham scored.
Kofoed scored an unassisted goal just past the 10-minute mark, while Gurr-Bingham scored at the beginning of the second half, also on an unassisted goal.
Up next for the Utes is arch rival BYU in Provo.
Utah has never beaten BYU in women’s soccer. Amy Winslow, Utah’s head coach for all seven years of the Utah women’s soccer team’s existence, is 0 9 against the Cougars.
Last year, the Utes and Cougars played twice, and BYU won both meetings. The first was a 5-2 win at Ute Field during the regular season, the second was in the Mountain West Conference Championship game, when BYU ousted Utah 6-1 in the title game.
The Utes are now thinking payback, but there is something more than pride on the line in this game?The winner can win a share of the Mountain West Conference and the No. 1 seed going into the conference championship in Las Vegas next week.
“We’ve never beaten them before, and every year we say, ‘OK, this is our year.’ But this year, everyone knows we can beat BYU,” said senior Lesa Zollinger.
“If we’re mentally prepared for this game, then we’re going to go out and win,” Kofoed said.
The Utes know that they can compete and beat BYU physically. It’s the mental game that has been lacking.
After Utah beat Weber State on Oct. 5, Weber State coach Lynn Kofoed talked about Utah’s ability.
“I predict Utah will beat BYU,” she said. Kofoed, mother of Utah’s star forward Amy, had already played BYU and said that Utah’s team was quicker and better than BYU, but Utah had to be up for it mentally.
Utah tied for the Mountain West regular season title in 1999, but that is the closest the Utes have gotten to a conference championship. The only time BYU finished with less than a tie for first place was in 1998, when it was still part of the Western Athletic Conference.
The game is scheduled for 5 p.m. Saturday night at BYU’s South Field.