After receiving a first round bye by finishing second in the Mountain West Conference this season, Utah advanced to the MWC Tournament championship game on Thursday by defeating the Horned Frogs for the first time this season.
The Utes beat the No. 3 seed Horned Frogs 2-1 in the first overtime. It was an own-goal off a deflected shot from Lauren Hair, which did the Horned Frogs in.
“Lauren has been on fire,” said Utah head coach Rich Manning. “It’s nice to have athletes on your team who can make clutch plays when we need them the most.”
TCU was the last team to defeat Utah in conference play this season, getting the best of the Utes in Fort Worth 2-0. But when the teams met in Las Vegas yesterday on a neutral field for the first time, it was Utah that came away with two goals.
After a scoreless first half it was Utah that broke the stalemate in the 63rd minute when Hair was brought down in TCU’s penalty box, it was left up to Katy Reineke to take the penalty kick.
Reineke stepped up and buried the penalty kick in the top left corner, giving the Utes a 1-0 lead. TCU then showed its resiliency with less then two minutes left in regular time when the Horned Frog attack, which had been best in the conference in the regular season, struck. Lizzy Karoly drilled the shot from 15 yards out to beat the diving effort of Ute goalie Emalee Rogers.
The overtime scenario was not a new one for the Utes, and it didn’t take long for the Utes to seal up their spot in the conference finals that take place on Friday.
Less then a minute into extra time, Hair, the sophomore standout, put her final stamp on the game driving deep into TCU territory before sending in a cross that posed a challenge for the TCU back line.
“We just worked hard, like we have been doing all season,” Hair said. “We were really effective with our passing. It definitely helped seeing TCU play yesterday, and we planned to try and beat them backdoor on the attack and it worked out for us today.”
As the cross flew in a TCU defender made an attempt to send the ball out for a corner kick in Utah’s favor. Instead, the crossed pass deflected past TCU goalie Kelsey Walters, effectively ending the Horned Frogs season.
The Utes will now take on BYU, which was held by host UNLV for nearly a half before drubbing the No. 4 seed Rebels 4-0. The Utes gave up their worst loss of the season against BYU earlier this season at Ute Field by a score of 5-0. The championship game, which is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday, will pit the two rivals against one another again. A berth to the NCAA Tournament is on the line.
Aaron SchwendimanKaty Reineke started the Utes off to a 1-0 lead scoring against TCU. Utah will now play BYU in the championship game Saturday at 1pm.
Erik DaenitzLauren Hair said that good passing and hard work helped Utah defeat TCU.