As the Utah soccer team finished training on Tuesday, there was a feeling of discouragement throughout the players and coaches – and there’s good reason for it.
The Utes are in the middle of a three-game winless skid, they sit in the bottom-third of the Pac-12 standings and their chances of capturing a spot in the postseason is hanging by a thread. And two of Utah’s top performers this season are out in Hailey Skolmoski and Mariah Elmer, who suffered season-ending injuries.
Furthermore, Utah’s remaining five games are also worrisome for the team. The Utes face two top-caliber teams this weekend in USC and UCLA away from home, then finish the season against tough opposition with Arizona State, Arizona and Colorado coming to town wanting to get points against the vulnerable Utes.
There is a lot to be concerned about with this Utah team, and its next slate of games to end the season is scary to look at. But head coach Rich Manning is giving one consistent message to his players: Remain positive.
“We have to keep our energy up,” Manning said. “We are doing so many good things [the past couple of games], but we haven’t cashed in on it.”
Manning is trying his hardest to keep his team motivated and focused for the remainder of the season. After all, he doesn’t want things to crumble to the floor like last year.
For those who don’t remember, Utah finished its 2014 season in the most disappointing fashion, gaining zero wins in its last five games. Not only did they gain zero points and missed grabbing a postseason berth into the NCAA tournament, but the Utes were also outperformed and outplayed in all those games – most notably, being outscored 11-4 during that stretch.
It was a very disappointing end for all of Utah’s players – especially the seniors who were playing their final games for the Utes. They had sacrificed and given their all for the past four years and left their college careers wanting more than they were given. Many of the players who experienced last season’s horrific ending don’t want any repeats and hope to grab as many points as possible. This includes senior defender Baylee Nielsen, who hopes to end her Utah career on a high note.
“It comes down to heart,” Nielsen said. “We have five games left, and I know as seniors we want to finish strong. So, ultimately, I think we need to come out with more energy, more heart and to just work hard as possible to finish the season strong.”
Even though the Utes continue to dig themselves into a deeper hole with their less-than-impressive results, the team does have a lot of positives to take from its last couple of games with its passing of the ball and possession-based style of play. But there are also the negatives as well and Manning hopes to address and tweak these issues before the Utes head on the plane for Los Angeles on Thursday.
“It’s a lot about the little details,” said Manning. “It would be nice if we could start off a game not falling behind the first twenty minutes – which has happened the last three games. It made us chase the game. I thought we had good focus for the Cal game last Sunday in that area, but it would definitely be nice if we could get through a good portion of the game not falling behind or even getting the lead to change the course of the game.”
He also expressed the talent his team possesses and how the “big” players that control the midfield and attack need to step up in order to grab the wins they need in the coming weeks.
“I thought a lot of players played really well against Cal,” said Manning. “But we didn’t take care of the details. These teams [we’ll play] perform at a really high level and will punish you for the mistakes that we make. I think we have to keep the energy and confidence up and take care of the details I mentioned.”
Utah will continue to work hard the next couple of days before it heads to California for the weekend double-header. Hopefully Manning and the seniors leading the squad will figure things out beforehand and avoid the disappointment that drenched a good Utah team in 2014.
@chad_marquez