Utah’s defense continued to shine this weekend, allowing only one goal in the team’s past four games. That one goal came early Sunday afternoon in the eighth minute of Utah’s matchup with California State Fullerton.
It was a shot off the boot of Tamra Dewey of CSF from 35 yards out that was uncharacteristically mishandled by Utah keeper Emalee Rogers. The score gave the Titans the early lead but it wasn’t long before the Utes answered back with a strike of their own. In the 25th minute, Morgan Skeen made her way forward from her right-back position to net her second goal of the season.
“I think we showed great character coming from behind today,” Head coach Rich Manning said. “We got great contributions from a lot of different people. We got our feet back under us after the early goal and continued to compete. We had a tough time finding a rhythm, which was a credit to Fullerton. I think this was another good game for us and we will take away a lot to keep improving on from it.”
After going into the half deadlocked, Utah was unable to pull ahead in the second half and eventually went into its fifth overtime in 10 games. But after two overtimes, the score still stood at one apiece, and the Utes were forced to settle for the tie.
“When we won the ball, we had some chances because they had so many players up front,” Manning said. “That seemed like the way it was going to be all day, either they would get a goal with their numbers forward or we were going to take advantage of the lack of numbers back.”
Sunday’s game pushed Utah’s unbeaten streak to four games. The Utes extended it to three games on Friday at Ute field following a 1-0 victory against Long Beach State.
It was the third shutout in a row for the Utes, whose defense took center stage at both ends of the field. Not only did the Ute’s backline allow only seven total shots, one of which was on goal, but the lone goal in the game came from freshman center back Lauren Porter. Porter, who was up in the attacking zone for a Utah corner kick, was able to finish off the cross from Katie Reineke, sneaking a header between the far post and LBSU goalie Liz Ramos.
“There is no better feeling than that,” Porter said. “That was awesome. We have been working on it in practice for a long time. It feels really good to finally get one.”
The goal was the first of Porter’s career while Reineke was credited with her second assist of the season for her service into the box.
“I think our team is really starting to develop its personality,” said Manning. “We are a gritty team that just sticks it out and keeps trying to find a way to make plays. We came out with renewed energy in the second half and were able to break up a little bit of the rhythm Long Beach had created toward the end of the first half. Lauren (Porter) really asserted herself on the game tonight in both penalty boxes. She has had a few close calls this year and she finally got one to go. I’m sure that is not her last.”
The Utes now have a week to practice and prepare for a two-game road trip this coming weekend. The Utes will travel to Seattle to take on the University of Washington before squaring off against Cal Poly this coming Sunday.
Lucas IsleyKaty Reineke holds off a California State Fullerton player in Sundays game. The two games the Utes played this weekend bumped up their unbeaten streak to four games in a row.