The Utah soccer team is back home from its weekend trip to Northern California, disappointed from the result of its 2-0 loss to No. 23 Cal. With this being their third-straight loss in a span of 10 days, the Utes are looking for positives to create confidence and boost motivation for their next slate of games on the road.
Even though the Utes haven’t earned any points, Utah head coach Rich Manning feels his team worked well together and had great chances to take the lead on Sunday.
“We are disappointed in the results of today’s game,” Manning said. “However, I thought we played with good energy and had some moments of quality. Kaycee Buckley and Katie Rogers were excellent on the ball in the midfield. And Megan Trabert and Paola van der Veen moved the ball for us in the back.”
With all these players pulling the strings, the Utes had control at the start of the first half but couldn’t finish the few chances they had. This allowed Cal to build its own momentum and eventually pushed the Utes out of contention.
The Utes hope to build on the positives Manning pointed out before they leave on Thursday for Southern California.
Desperation time
With Sunday’s result not going Utah’s way, it’s do-or-die time for the team to have any hope of grabbing a post-season spot in the NCAA tournament. The Utes sit in ninth place in the Pac-12 and have only won two conference games, against Oregon and Oregon State.
To make things even worse, Utah’s remaining schedule is not a walk in the park. The Utes are on the road this weekend playing two tough Los Angeles schools and finish the season at home against Arizona State, Arizona and Colorado.
The good news for Utah is that the Sun Devils, Wildcats and Buffaloes are in the same position as the Utes — in the bottom half of the conference standings. But like the Utes, all these teams will be in the mindset to grab wins from here on out at all costs. If the Utes want to save not only their season, but their pride, they will need to pick themselves up from Sunday’s loss and fight hard to grab points and save the season.
Los Angeles bound
Utah is now ready for intense sessions of training before it hits the road on Thursday to return to California for matchups against USC and UCLA. Both schools are ready to compete against the Utes so they can grab a better seeding for the Pac-12 Tournament.
Following Utah’s performance against Cal, the Utes hope to stiffen their defense and continue to build on their possession and passing attack both the Trojans and Bruins. Both of these Los Angeles schools are also wanting to turn their seasons around after disappointing starts. This is especially the case for the Bruins, who are currently sitting two spots above the Utes in seventh place after claiming last year’s NCAA championship.
The Utes are aware of what both teams are capable of and are looking forward to fighting for the three points on Friday and Sunday.
@chad_marquez