Although the U soccer team is only six games into their season, it seems as though it has already been a long season thus far for Rich Manning and his squad.
The Utes are coming off a two-game road trip, where their current losing streak was extended to four games after they dropped two close games to Oregon and Oregon State.
“We learned a lot about the things we can improve on,” said goalie Emalee Rogers. “I felt like we could definitely improve on our possession, and keeping the ball a little more. Offensively, I thought Lauren Hair, Kelly (Isleib) and Katy Reineke did a really good job of getting forward and getting chances.”
Now the Utes haved turned their attention to a full week of practice before taking on Utah State this Friday at Ute Field. A vital component to the Utes’ success this Friday will be their underclassmen.
“The freshmen are doing great, we actually depend on a lot of them,” said midfielder/forward Isleib. “When we step on the field for the starting lineup, there’s only four upperclassmen, a little hard for them to come into a fast pace game, but they’re doing really good.”
Some of the best performances from underclassmen have been coming from Utah’s young backline. The line, which is made up of a pair of freshmen Laurens (Dudley and Porter), and sophomores Nicole Cardon and Morgan Skeen, has been steadily increasing with each game played.
“Our backline is doing really well, we’re getting more confident together,” Rogers said. “I think especially our two center backs are doing a really good job of leading our defense, and being leaders on the field and communicating well with our midfielders and forwards. Our outside backs are doing a lot better job of getting forward and attacking, giving us better options.”
With the back line tightening up and midfielder/forward Isleib spearheading the Ute offense, Utah looks like it’s in its best form of the young season.
“We have really been working on ball position and ball movement,” Rogers said. “Just being able to possess the ball in tight spaces and play quickly.”
Utah State will be coming off a 3-0 win that came against Northern Colorado. The win ended a three-game losing streak for the Aggies and gave them their second win of the season.
“Utah State is always a good game,” Isleib said. “Its one of our big rivalries, I know a lot of them, I grew up with some of them. It will be a good game, and we’re looking for the (win).”
Kick off will be at 7:30 p.m. at Ute Field. The U will team up with the United States Youth Soccer Association Friday night, and both the Utes and the Aggies will be signing autographs after the game.
Anna KartashovaThe Utes are focusing on a good week of practice before facing Utah State this week. This year?s team is depending on freshmen a lot and hope to improve as a hole in the upcoming games.