Not many people leave Las Vegas a winner, but when the Utes come to town they usually strike gold.
The women’s soccer team (6-7-1, 1-1-0) has been in a drought since it last got a win Sept. 9. The Utes got back to their winning ways Thursday night, however, when they beat UNLV (5-5-4, 0-1-0) on a late goal, 1-0.
The Utes came out of the gates running and seemed set on snapping their losing streak. Utah pressured the Rebels from the get-go and had eight shots on goal in the first half. Freshman forward Hanna Terry led the charge with four early shots and irritated the UNLV defense.
“I just wanted to come out with energy and get the team going,” Terry said. “We had a lot of energy at the start of the game and that helped us with confidence and momentum.”
In 74th minute, redshirt sophomore forward Erin Dalley scored the game-winning goal when she put the ball past the goalkeeper to the far post. Junior forward Lauren Hair was credited with the assist when she played a great through ball to Dalley.
The Utes outshot the Rebels 17-3 and put consistent pressure on UNLV’s goalkeeper, Alicia Lugo. Lugo played well and made 10 saves in the match.
The Utes played great defense down the stretch, led by sophomore forward Lauren Porter. Porter was knocked out of the Utes’ last game when she suffered a concussion. She was listed as a game-time decision but ended up playing every minute of the game.
Utah has not lost to the Rebels during the regular season since 2004. With this win, Utah pushes its all-time record to 10-3-3 against UNLV, including 4-1-1 in Las Vegas.
Utah looks to win back-to-back games as it continues its road trip at San Diego State (7-3-4, 0-0-1) on Saturday afternoon.
The Aztecs opened their MWC schedule Thursday night when they played host to BYU and held the No. 9 ranked Cougars to a 2-2 tie. Coming into this week’s action, SDSU is unbeaten in its last six games, going 4-0-2 over that stretch. Last weekend, the Aztecs tied Oregon State, 1-1, then defeated Seattle, 2-0, in the San Diego State Classic.
“SDSU is off to a fantastic start this year and they will be carrying a lot of momentum from their non-conference games,” said head coach Rich Manning. “They too have a very good goalkeeper in Aubrey Southwick and a dynamic attacking player in Cat Walker.”
Offensively, Cat Walker leads the Rebels in scoring with four goals on a team-high 36 shots and is tied for the team lead with three assists. Niki Fernandes has scored three times while Jessica Gordon and Hayley Marsh have each added two goals.
Guarding the net for the Aztecs this year is Aubree Southwick, who has made 47 saves for a .758 save percentage, while allowing 15 goals for a 1.09 goals-against-average. She has also notched five shutouts, tying for second in the MWC.
SDSU is coached by Mike Friesen, now in his third year, who holds a career record of 22-21-9 (.510).
“Hopefully we will be able to bounce back from a tough game at UNLV to give a good effort in the second game of this road trip against San Diego State,” Manning said.