Utah (3-3-3) rounded out its nonconference schedule with a 2-2 tie in Sunday’s match against the Loyola Marymount Lions (6-2-1). The game was extremely physical and several Utes and Lions were injured as players battled all afternoon trying to edge out their opponent.
Sunday’s game was coming on the heels of a 2-0 loss against USU and the Utes, who were hoping to rebound from their defeat. Head coach Rich Manning thinks his team played well, they just haven’t been able to finish in ideal fashion.
“It has certainly been a challenge with these last two games. We played some really good soccer, but we haven’t been able to get some of the results that we want,” Manning said. “It happened again today, and it’s just something we have to get mentally tougher about and pay attention to the details.”
In contrast to the performance against the Aggies, Utah started off strong and immediately put pressure on the LMU defense. Several close shots nearly put the Utes on the board, but it was a header from sophomore forward Natalie Vukic in the 10th minute that gave the Utes an early lead.
After the Utah goal, the Lion defense closed ranks and denied the Utes any more opportunities to score. The Utah defense played equally as tough, and kept LMU from taking any shots on goal until a botched pass in the Utah box allowed the Lions to knot up the score at 1-1 before halftime.
In the beginning of the second half, Loyola Marymount came out fast. The Utah defense held LMU at bay, but was unable to mount any serious offensive strikes of its own. As a result, the Lions were able to slide one past Lindsey Luke to take the 2-1 lead.
Utah defender Hailey Skolmoski said finding themselves trailing for the first time in the game was a wake-up call for the Utes, who were determined not to lose in another hard-fought competition.
“The past week or so, we’ve been talking about how we’re so close to getting where we want to be, to finishing games and winning games,” said Skolmoski. “We just came together and were like ‘Let’s go, we got this. We’re not worried. We can beat this team.’ We really just rallied together and worked hard.”
The Utes quickly responded to the Lions’ second goal, and shifted the pressure back onto the Lion’s half of the field. Much like the first half, the Utes had several shots barely miss the goal and had another couple of shots blocked by the LMU goalkeeper.
In the 72nd minute, a diving save from Lindsey Luke prevented LMU from taking a potentially game-ending two-goal lead and eight minutes later the Utes closed the gap. Vukic found a seam down the sideline and drove to the net before sending a low cross to Skolmoski, who headed it in for her first collegiate goal.
Less than a minute later, Mariah Elmer had the chance to give the Utes another late score when she found herself one-on-one with the LMU goalkeeper, but Elmer was denied and the game went into overtime.
The Utes appeared to have all the momentum in extra time, and in the 92nd minute Vukic was in almost the exact same position she was for the Utes’ second goal, but her low cross to Paola van der Veen sailed over the net. The Utes had several more shots on goal, but were unable to score.
Rich Manning said the team is disappointed with the result, but the late-game performance was a step in the right direction and an important step as the team prepares for Pac-12 play.
“I thought we did great [in overtime],” Manning said. “We had three golden chances, and I know the majority of the time we’ll put those away. It was really great to see people dig down, on their last legs of the weekend and create some opportunities.”
The Utes will begin Pac-12 Conference play this Friday with a home game against Stanford. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. MT.
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