The Utes currently hold a record of 4-6-2, but Saturday night will mark a new beginning in Utah’s season. The Utes and head coach Rich Manning have a chance to start at 0-0.
Utah kicks off Mountain West Conference play this weekend, hosting BYU at Ute Field. The game will mark the 20th time the two schools have met. The Utes hold a 2-1 record against the Cougars at home under Manning and will look to improve on that mark this weekend.
“BYU has a really good team this year,” said senior midfielder Amanda Sanchez. “They will be good competition for us, but we’re gonna get ready all this week, get ourselves psyched for the game and get ready to go.”
The last time the two teams met was in October 2007. BYU was playing host to the Utes and, thanks to former Ute Melissa Crespo’s strike in the 60th minute, Utah went home with the 1-0 win.
The Utes have had the upper hand on the Cougars since Manning’s tenure began at Utah, but by no means has it been easy. Six of the last eight contests between the two sides have been decided by a single goal and Utah has come out on top in four of those matches.
Katie Larkin and Lauren Anderson lead the Cougar attack, and each has already tallied seven points on the year. Just as the offensive load has been split between Larkin and Anderson, time in net has been split up for BYU as well. McKinzie Olson and Aleena Shelton have been sharing starts and minutes all season long in goal. Olson has seen one more start than Shelton but has given up nearly half as many goals.
“BYU plays with tremendous passion,” Manning said. “From the way they chase the ball through the midfield to the way they ferociously defend their own end. When you put those things together, they make a very dangerous team.”
The BYU game will be an important first step for the Utes, not only through the MWC, but into the conference tournament as well.
“(Getting a good start) is really important,” said junior forward Kelly Isleib. “Conference play is like a new season for us; we’re starting at 0-0 and it’s important to get a win.”
Utah has seen considerable success in conference play under Manning. In the coach’s first six years at Utah, the team has gone 29-5-5 against conference opponents. A lot of Manning’s success comes not only from how his team performs during conference play, but whom his team plays to prepare for the conference as well.
This year, Utah played a demanding non-conference schedule, first traveling cross-country to North Carolina to take on the likes of Wake Forest, as well as playing host to teams such as the University of Georgia and the University of Arizona.
“We played those tough non-conference games to get ready for conference play,” Isleib said. “Conference is a whole different league and there are some good teams who will be a little more feisty, trying to get to the tournament, so it will be interesting.”
Utah has seemed to improve with each game, tightening up a young defense led by goalie Emalee Rogers as well as creating scoring opportunities. The Utes have put their slow start behind them and now only have one focus in mind8212;getting to and winning the conference tournament.
“We’re all focused on getting to the conference tournament and getting seated first or second to get the bye,” Sanchez said. “So we will obviously look to do very well in our games leading up to the tournament.”
Under Manning, Utah has won the MWC regular season three times8212;in 2003, 2005 and 20068212;as well as a pair of conference tournament titles that came in 2003 and 2004. The Utes will look to improve on their short, yet successful MWC history, and it all gets underway Saturday at 7 p.m. at Ute Field.
Aaron SchwendimanChelsea Forbes charges after the ball against Long Beach State. This weekend game against BYU will be the Ute?s first Mountain West Conference game.