The Air Force may have airsupremacy, but in the past itshas struggled on the ground,especially on the soccer field,where the Air Force AcademyFalcons (3-10-1) lost itsfifthstraight game to the U (8-4-2)on Thursday.The Falcons were thoroughlyoutmatched by the visitingUtes, who scored four goalsen route to a shut out.”It was really good to seeus put the ball in the backof the net again, because wehaven’t scored in a couple ofgames,” U head coach RichManning said. “We created alot of chances, and got a lot ofgood looks in front of the goal.From that standpoint, it was areally successful game.”Utah’s three-game scoringdrought ended in the 17thminute when sophomore forwardAmanda Feigt blasted ashot off the hands of Falcongoalkeeper Jennifer Drew,and tapped in the rebound forher fourth goal of the season.Sophomore forward HaileyMarsh was credited with theassist for her pass that slippedthrough the Falcon defenseand hit Feigt in stride.The Utes struck again sevenminutes before half time whenfreshman midfielder WhitneyDorsey and senior forwardJulie Herdic set up freshmanforward Chelsea Card’s fifthgoal of the season.”Dorsey played a ball intospace in the right corner ofthe field, and I chased it on,crossed it in the air, and Chelseavolleyed it in,” Herdicsaid.Card, who was once againin perfect position to receivethe pass, had some motivationfrom her teammate.”I just knew Julie was goingto get that ball and I rememberthinking ‘Chelsea, ifyou’re not there she’s going tokill you,'” Card said.Card lived and had this tosay about her goal. “It alwaysfeels good to score,” she said.”We’ve all been deprived ofgoals in the last week or so,and the fact that I can contributegives me the extra con-fidence that everyone needssometimes.”Not to be outdone by herfreshman counterpart, Feigtscored the third goal of thegame and her fifth of the seasonin the 73rd minute. Mostof the work was done byMWC assist leader Kim Lloyd,who hustled to steal the ballfrom the Falcon defense, beatthe goalkeeper to the ball, andtapped it to Feigt who passedit in. It was Lloyd’s seventh assistof the season.Carisse Winegar’s seasonof hard work finally paid offin the 82nd minute, when sheheaded a Herdic cross in fromthe 18-yard line for her firstgoal of the season and the lastgoal of the game.”It was an awesome header,right in the corner,” Manningsaid.The four-goal explosionfrom the Utes came at a crucialpoint in the their season.While fighting to defend theirconference title, and for playoffposition, a scoring droughtis not what they needed.”When you go a couple ofgames without scoring, youfeel like you’re never goingto score,” Manning said. “Sowhen we broke the ice and gotfour, it was great. It also feelsgood to get our first conferencewin. Winning the conferenceis our goal, so this is thefirst step.”Overshadowed by the offensewas the tremendousperformance of the Ute defense,which had just as muchto prove. After losing two keydefenders, and with an ailinggoalkeeper in Ashley Mason,the Utes were stellar in theshutout.”The defense is kind ofgrinding it out, and I’m reallyhappy with how they’reworking out problems as theygo,” Manning said. “There arestill a few things we need towork out as far as mechanicsand cohesiveness go, but thisgroup is learning on the flyand I’m real proud of the waythey’re going about it.”The makeshift Ute D has allowedonly one goal in its lastthree games, and even moreimpressive are the numbersof senior goalkeeper GlennisDonnelly, who has playedin three games, and has twoshutouts.”Glennis did a great job ingoal tonight for us,” Manningsaid. “In the first half, she hadto make a lot of tough decisions,and she responded verywell. She hadn’t played since[Sept. 5] and she had a greatgame.”However, Manning expectsMason to be ready for theirnext game against UVSC onSaturday.The Wolverines (4-7-2) willface the Utes at 1 p.m. on Saturdayat Ute Field.”This is UVSC’s second yearas an NCAA Division I program,”Manning said. “Theyhave some good local talent,they work very hard, and theyremind me a lot of Utah State.Plus the local rivalry gamesare always high intensity.”The game’s intensity will beupped even more by the factthat the Ute seniors will behonored before the game andwill be making their secondto last appearance in front oftheir home crowd.”Those players have done alot for this program and we’retaking this game as an opportunityto celebrate that,” Manningsaid.Additional incentive willbe provided by the daughtersof former baseball star WallyJoyner, who will be facingeach other for the first time intheir college careers. McKenzieJoyner is a sophomore defenderfor the Utes, and sisterJessica plays for [email protected]