Perfect Road Trip: Utah ended its weekend trip in Oregon in perfect fashion by beating Oregon 2-0 on Sunday in Eugene. The Utes, who were riding confidence built from Friday’s 1-0 win over Oregon State, put together a great performance against a struggling Ducks team, and are back on track to find a decent place in the Pac-12 standings.
Luke Shines: Player of the match has to go to Lindsey Luke, who produced six big saves to keep the Utes in the game, while also earning her fourth shutout of the season. The senior goalkeeper started in goal for the Utes every game this season.
Van der Veen Drives Offense: Another Utah player that deserves recognition is freshman Paola van der Veen, who earned a goal and assist to help drive Utah’s offense. The midfield playmaker, who competed for club and country in the Netherlands, is finally getting accustomed to her surroundings in Utah by scoring her first goal.
“I feel a little bit relieved,” van der Veen said in a press release. “It’s only been a few games but it feels like forever.”
With her first out of the way, van der Veen now has the opportunity to help her teammates continue winning ways for the rest of Utah’s season.
Coach’s Corner: “We are really excited getting two positive results on the weekend for the first time since we joined the conference. The way we performed was a really good sign. We tightened it up in the back and that got us back on track. The team adjusted to different moments in the game really well to grind out a pair of road wins.” — Utah head coach Rich Manning