Utah forward Allie Wisner said she came into Sunday’s game against USC wanting to score. With the Trojans limiting the Ute attack for most of the day, it seemed she wouldn’t get her wish.
That all changed in the 76th minute when a blast from teammate Ashton Hall was knocked away by USC goalkeeper Caroline Stanley right to her. With a strike, Wisner got what she wanted and Utah got what it needed, as it walked off Ute Field with a 1-0 victory.
“I kept trying to put myself in good positions,” Wisner said. “Ashton did a great job putting it on frame. It was a good shot and made the keeper make a save, and it just tuckered in.”
With the victory, Utah (8-3-6, 4-2-2) remained unbeaten at home with a record of 6-0-4.
“We scored an opportunistic goal, but the credit for the day has to go to our defense and goalkeeper,” Utes head coach Rich Manning said. “Our offense was not up to the standards we have had in recent games.”
The Utah defense was called upon early and often to keep the Trojans off the scoreboard. Within the first 20 minutes of the game, USC earned four corner kicks by continuing to put pressure on the Utes’ back line.
“[The Trojans] came out and played with tremendous energy and aggressiveness,” Manning said. “We did just enough to keep them off the scoreboard.”
In the first half, the Utah attack seemed content to send it over the top of the USC defense and hope for a good run with its forwards. This strategy produced the best scoring chance of the half when the Utes caught the Trojans in an unsuccessful offside trap. The USC back line played up hoping to catch Hall offside, but they did not move fast enough, and a well-placed through ball led Hall to a one-on-one opportunity against Stanley. Hall shot over the charging Stanley, but the strike banged off the post.
The Trojans had their own one-on-one opportunity in the first half when a ball got through the Ute back line to Katie Johnson. Utah keeper Lindsey Luke charged Johnson, leading her to shoot before she was ready, and she sent the ball high.
All season, the Utes have used a possession-heavy offense to limit the opposition’s chances. This was not the case Sunday, as USC held possession the majority of the game. As a result, the Trojans had the advantage in almost every offensive category. USC outshot Utah 16-6, had six shots on goal to the Utes’ three and finished the game with six corner kicks while Utah earned zero. But thanks to Hall and Wisner, the Utes took the advantage in the most important stat — goals.
“We were rushing our attack and giving the ball back to them, trying low percentage fast break stuff,” Manning said. “I would have liked to have seen us keep it a couple more passes before we attacked, but today turned into a defensive game, and we were able to keep the ball out of the net.”
In keeping the Trojans out of the net, Luke collected her eighth shutout of the season, but USC made sure she would have to earn it to the very last minute. With 40 seconds to go in the game, Luke was forced to make a diving save to keep Utah ahead and preserve the victory.
The Utes will head back out on the road this weekend to face off against Arizona on Friday and Arizona State on Sunday.