Two games, two wins, a bunch of happy campers. Positivity is abundant with the Utah soccer team at training following its successful weekend road trip in Oregon. The players are more excited than ever, especially with the extra headlines that were made.
The team defeated two aggressive Pac-12 teams, gave head coach Rich Manning his 150th win as a Ute and was also the first Utah squad in the program’s history to grab two back-to-back wins in a weekend series. It was a team effort from all the players to get the job done.
There were also personal accolades for the players as well. Goalkeeper Lindsey Luke earned her seventh Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week award, Dutch freshman Paola Van der Veen scored her first goal in Utah colors and sophomore Mariah Elmer once again proved why she should be in the starting 11 by scoring her third goal of the season against Oregon State.
Even though all the players mentioned above grabbed highlights during the two Oregon games, sophomore forward Natalie Vukic had an astounding weekend with the Utes as well, grabbing her third goal to tie her record from her freshman year. Vukic is extremely satisfied with her efforts and hopes to continue scoring later in the season.
“It was awesome [scoring the goal against Oregon],” said Vukic. “Last season I got three goals and now with my third this season, I feel that I’m going to get past my record, which is really exciting.”
Vukic hopes she will be able to accomplish this feat at this Friday’s Homecoming game against Washington State, or on Sunday against Washington. The games against the Cougars and the Huskies should provide some extra motivation for her as she calls Washington home.
Vukic’s hometown is in Bainbridge — which is located across the Puget Sound from Seattle and the University of Washington. She grew up playing soccer and had numerous friends and teammates who wanted to attend Washington, or travel across the state to represent the Washington State Cougars in Pullman.
Vukic doesn’t feel that playing against her friends on the other team will add extra pressure for her, however, even though the Huskies recently came off a surprising win over UCLA last weekend.
“I never really had a connection to those schools,” said Vukic. “I didn’t really look at them, to be honest. I always wanted to go out of state, so I will take [those games] like any other weekend.”
Vukic is one of the most important pieces to the puzzle of solving Utah’s offensive issues and will continue to help this Friday in front of an anxious crowd.
“Having Homecoming here this weekend means we have to show everything we have as a team,” said Vukic. “We have to focus and continue to ride the high that we had from the Oregon games, and do our best to grab another two wins this weekend.”
Manning also agreed Homecoming is an excellent opportunity to grab six points from the Washington teams.
“Homecoming is always fun to be around,” said Manning. “A lot of alumni are attending, and there will be a big crowd as well, so we are all excited to get on the field and continue the success we had in Oregon.”
It will be a big weekend for all of the players, who are ready to win, and Vukic is aiming to break her goal-scoring record, lead the team and help the Utes kick off Homecoming weekend in the right fashion.
@chad_marquez