“What have you done for me lately?”
Recent success can make a lot of past failures disappear when it comes to sports, and head coach Rich Manning has proven this in his time at the helm of the Utah women’s soccer team.
Utah has played BYU more than any other team in the program’s history8212;20 times to be exact. Utah had a 13-game losing streak against the Cougars until November 2002, Manning’s first match against the rivals from the south, and it has been a different story ever since.
Under Manning, Utah has gone 5-2-1 against the Cougars and now holds a mark of 2-1 at Ute Field.
“I can say that BYU-Utah is one of the five most exciting matches every single year,” Manning said. “The quality of play on the field, the atmosphere in the stands and what it means to the community make this a very special game.”
The Utes are coming off a weekend that showcased the best and worst that Utah has to offer. In a matchup with Washington, the Utes suffered a 3-0 loss in which the offense never got going, managing only three shots in the game. The defense also had a busy day, giving up 19 shots as well as an astounding 14 corner kicks.
But the Utes showed just how resilient they are. After a long day of traveling Saturday, the Utes took down Cal Poly 1-0 in San Luis Obispo, Calif, Emalee Rogers and the defense recorded their fourth shutout of the year and Kelly Isleib got back on the scoring track, netting her fourth goal of the year, three of which have been game winners.
“Our team continues to show an amazing ability to bounce back,” Manning said. “And not letting disappointments keep them down, that is a quality that I think will serve us well in conference play.”
The Utes have faced adversity all year. Of their 12 games, five have gone to overtime and three of the team’s four wins have come by one goal.
“We have improved in a lot of areas,” Manning said. “Our confidence on the ball is at a very high level right now. Also, our team defense continues to improve. I think some fine-tuning as far as attacking and being more dangerous around the goal would help us become a much more complete team.”
While the team defense continues to shine, the offense has had a little more trouble finding its groove this season. As a team, they average just about 13 shots a game, but have only managed to average .92 goals a game, which is dead last out of the Mountain West Conference teams.
This will mark the first year that BYU and Utah will face off in the conference season opener and the Utes are anxious to show the Mountain West what they are made of.
“(Our confidence) is definitely growing,” sophomore Morgan Skeen said. “We’re definitely excited to head into conference and get some good wins, especially against BYU. Our confidence is growing with each game.”
In recent years, Utah has fared well in MWC openers, going 2-0-1 in the past three, with an all-time mark of 5-3-1.
“Our players look forward to this game every year,” Manning said. “It’s one of those games they will remember for the rest of their careers. I have no doubt there will be more great memories made this Saturday.”
Lucas IsleyKelly Isleib heads the ball during the double over time game against Air Force. Kelly scored Utah?s game winning, and only goal against Cal Poly on Sunday.