Over the week, Utah soccer traveled to two different states to compete against Purdue (Sept. 9) and North Dakota State (Sept. 11). Though Friday’s game was cancelled due to thunder and lightning storms, the Utes continued on with their weekend in Fargo, N.D. and took a 3-1 victory over NDSU.
Both Purdue and Utah had taken the field Friday night, but the weather caused problems in the second half. Purdue scored in the 37th minute, taking the 1-0 lead over the Utes going into the second half. But when thunder and lightning began to come in during the 61st minute of the second half, the game was delayed, then later it was cancelled.
“[Purdue’s game] was a little bit rough because of traveling, and then the conditions weren’t very good,” said junior Cabria Turang. “We knew going into [the game] that it was possible there was going to be thunder and lightning, but we just couldn’t finish the chances that we were getting unfortunately.”
Head coach Rich Manning felt that the game against Purdue was difficult, but that it was a good opportunity for the team to walk away and learn from the mistakes they made.
“Obviously, we had the ball a lot and had a lot of chances, but I don’t think we really solved what the other team was trying to do very well,” Manning said. “They got a goal late in the first half, so I think we walked away thinking it was a good learning opportunity for us.”
Two days later, Utah was in Fargo to compete against NDSU, and it managed to stop the Bison after they scored in the second minute of the first half, taking the 1-0 lead early in the game.
But as the game progressed, the Utes got into their groove as freshman Holly Daugirda crossed the ball and sophomore Hailey Skolmoski scored a goal to tie up the game in the 14th minute. As the second half started, Utah scored early at the start and took a 2-1 lead over NDSU as Skolmoski crossed the ball and sophomore Max Flom scored the goal in the 74th minute.
Utah held off the Bison for the rest of the game, not allowing its opponent to score again. To secure the victory, Turang took her chance and shot the ball after Skolmoski rebounded off the bar, and she scored her first goal of her college career, giving the Utes the 3-1 lead and the ultimate win at the final buzzer.
“[This weekend] was a difficult road trip, experienced difficult field conditions and we played a difficult opponent on Sunday,” Manning said. “I think we struggled in the first half, but I was just really pleased with the way we climbed back with the game. I thought in the second half we played very well.”
The Utes will be back on the road and heading to Orem, Utah to compete against Utah Valley University this Friday, Sept. 16. Kickoff is set to begin at 7 p.m.
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