By Matt Sanchez

The No. 21 women’s soccer team (4-2) lost its second straight game at home, falling 3-1 to the college of William and Mary (3-1) on Sunday afternoon.

The Utes were coming off a disappointing loss Wednesday night at the hands of Weber State and were hoping to bounce back against an excellent William and Mary team. The Tribe played just 36 hours earlier in Provo and beat the Cougars in a double-overtime thriller 1-0 Friday night.

“Anytime you can go on the road and win against nationally ranked opponents, it’s great,” said William and Mary head coach John Daly. “To come such a long way, handle the challenges of travel and beat two very good teams makes me extremely happy.”

Coming into the game, the Utes were dealing with an injury; senior midfielder and leader Kelly Isleib was sidelined with a sprained ankle.

“Missing (Isleib) in general is tough, but when you play a team that’s packed in like that, she’s someone that can break them down and make them pay,” said head coach Rich Manning.

The Tribe played aggressively and looked like the fresher team early on.

“It wasn’t our best game, and I’m very disappointed,” Manning said. “Coming off Wednesday’s loss, I felt like the team was ready to bounce back, but almost from the kick-off, did the opposite.”

The first goal came in the 16th minute when W&M forward Kellie Jenkins scooted the ball to the left side of the net past a defenseless Hannah Turpen.

The Utes fought back and less than two minutes later, had an equalizer that made it 1-1.

Freshman forward Hannah Terry split the posts with a strike to the upper-left corner, the second goal of her career. Junior forward Lauren Hair got the assist by splitting the defense and gave Terry the ball at the top of the box for a one-on-one showdown with the goalkeeper. Freshman midfielder Stephanie Lemeza was also credited with an assist.

The Tribe dashed all hopes of a comeback when Erin Liberatore pushed the ball past three defenders to make it 3-1.

“My hope is these lessons we’ve learned will pay off as the season goes on,” Manning said. “They’re learning hard lessons and better now than later.”

The Utes will be back in action Wednesday night when they host Princeton at 7:30 p.m.

Tyler Cobb

Ute forward Erin Dalley goes for a goal against William & Mary goalkeeper Grace Barnard.