After lighting up the scoreboard Friday night, Utah needed every last minute to get by Wyoming on Sunday afternoon at Ute Field.
When it was all said and done, the Utes closed out their 2008 home campaign and thanked the Utah faithful with two quality wins.
The Utes and Cowgirls were in a dogfight Sunday afternoon for the final home match of the season, as the Utes needed double-overtime to send the Cowgirls back to Laramie, Wyo. with a 1-0 loss.
After a full 90 minutes, neither side was able to break the scoring deadlock, sending the Utes into their sixth overtime match of the year.
The crowd saw much of the same action in the first overtime as they had seen all afternoon. The stalemate continued and the game was sent into a second overtime.
It wasn’t till late in the second overtime that sophomore forward Lauren Hair finally put home the game winner, giving Utah its fourth-straight home win. The goal was Hair’s third in two games and fourth of the season.
“My teammates have played some amazing balls to find me in places where I can be dangerous,” Hair said. “We have been trying so hard as a team to keep pushing in our attack. Our offense is working really well together right now.”
With the win, Utah moved into No. 2 in the Mountain West Conference with one more conference game to play.
“We really went for the win in the second overtime,” said head coach Rich Manning. “We went to a 3-5-2 knowing that if we won, we would remain in control of our own destiny. If we were going to lose because we took a risk, so be it.”
It was also Hair who put away the game-winning goal Friday night when the Utes hosted Seattle University. Hair spearheaded a Utah attack that tied its highest offensive output of the season, tallying four goals against the Redhawks and getting the win 4-3.
Utah opened the game in an impressive fashion, scoring only seven minutes into the contest. Freshman forward Chelsea Forbes opened up the scoring on a deflected shot from junior midfielder Kelly Isleib, who was credited with her team-leading fifth assist.
Goals from senior forward Katy Reineke and Hair before halftime gave the Utes a 3-1 lead going into the break.
“I thought we played very well in stretches tonight,” Manning said. “I was pleased with the way we played in those spells. Our concentration faded at times and we kind of lost focus of what we were trying to do. We played a lot of players tonight, which was certainly part of it.”
But Seattle would not go away without a fight8212;the Redhawks came within one in the 58th when Kahlyn Keilty-Lucas finished off a cross that was sent in by Kara Kuttler.
The eventual game-winner came in the 66th minute when Forbes came streaking down the middle of the pitch and played a perfect ball to Hair down the left side. Hair received the ball in Seattle’s box and powered a left-footed shot into the top right corner, sealing the victory for Utah.
“Chelsea (Forbes) played an amazing ball in for me,” Hair said. “It was good to have a ball that I could be dangerous on, she played it in perfectly. The keeper had come off her line a little and I knew I had to get it over her, so I just lined it up and hit it hard.”
Because of the high scoring affair, Manning had an opportunity to tinker with his lineup, finding out exactly what he has as far as depth on his bench. Twenty-one different Utes got to see valuable playing time Friday night.
“Tonight we played a lot of players who may not have seen much action lately but are very important to our team,” Manning said. “It is critical that they stay sharp. They need to be on top of their game as we head into the last part of our season.”
Aaron SchwendimanLauren Hair scored three goals this weekend including the game winner in double overtime on Sunday. The Utes closed out their home schedule with a 4-3 win on Friday and a 1-0 win over Wyoming on Sunday.