The duel has begun.
The 2009-2010 Deseret First Duel got under way Saturday when the Utes and Cougars squared off in Provo.
The women’s soccer team (5-7-1, 0-1-0 MWC) fell to No. 14 BYU (10-2-1, 1-0 MWC) in overtime Saturday night by a 2-1 score.
With the game tied 1-1 with 43 seconds left in overtime, BYU put away a loose ball in the Utah box to score the golden goal and send the Utes home with another heartbreaking loss. Jessica Ringwood was credited with the game-winning goal.
“I’m extremely proud of the team tonight,” said U head coach Rich Manning. “They played with great unity and heart, and we had a lot of things not go our way and could have folded it a bunch of times, but we gave ourselves a chance to win at the end.”
The standing-room-only crowd was treated to a soccer match that was competitive from the get-go.
Less than two minutes into the match, the Utes were whistled for a handball inside their own penalty box, which set up a penalty kick for the Cougars. Lauren Anderson stepped up and drilled the free kick into the net to give BYU a 1-0 lead.
Throughout the first half, the teams played great defense, with both struggling to possess the ball.
Trailing 1-0 in the 35th minute, Utah senior midfielder Kelly Isleib leveled the score as she one-timed a right-footed bullet past the diving attempt of BYU goalkeeper McKinzie Olson.
“The team will keep battling,” Isleib said. “Our confidence is not low and we’ll only get better, and hopefully we’ll meet BYU again in the conference tournament.”
A Utah corner kick from the left side taken by Chelsea Forbes was headed away by the Cougars, but it fell to Isleib on the right corner of the penalty box. She did not hesitate to step to the ball and blast a bending shot to the near post for her team-leading fifth goal of the year.
“You have to give a lot of credit to Utah,” said BYU head coach Jennifer Rockwood. “They were able to get us out of our game and what we like to do.”
The Utes started the second half with momentum and had several quality looks at the net, but a collision sent sophomore defender Lauren Porter to the sidelines. From that point, the Cougars took over and played the majority of the second half on Utah’s side of the field. At one point late in the game, BYU had four consecutive shots on the goal, but all were snuffed out by the Utes’ defense.
As time ticked away, the ball bounced in front of the Utes’ goal, and that’s when Ringwood put one past Hannah Turpen for the winning goal.
“We settled down in the second half and overtime and fortunately Jessica (Ringwood) was able to get a foot on it and poke it in, in overtime,” Rockwood said. “It was a great college match with a lot of emotion and intensity and that is why we play.”
It was an extremely physical contest, with a total of 37 fouls called in the game, 19 going to Utah and 18 to BYU. The Cougars outshot Utah 12-6, including 4-1 in overtime, with shots on goal going 7-2 in their favor. BYU also earned nine corner kicks to Utah’s four.
“It was physical out there, but both teams were physical,” said redshirt sophomore Erin Dalley. “It was good, tough soccer and played the way it should be played.”
Conference play continues Oct. 8 when the Utes travel to UNLV.
Mike Mangum/The Daily Utah ChronicleKelly Isleib kicked in a one-timer during the 35th minute Saturday to tie the game at 1. The tie held up until the last minute of the second overtime when BYU scored to win the game 2-1.