On Friday Sept. 16, Utah soccer will be back on the road to travel to Orem, Ut. to compete against Utah Valley. This will be the first meeting between the two teams since 2014, where the Utes knocked off UVU in a 4-0 victory against their in-state competition.
“I think it is going to be a good game,” said junior Cabria Turang. “Just being in-state, there is always going to be this competition. We just have to go out, work hard and get some goals.”
Last time out, Utah took on UVU at Ute Field and played an offensive-driven game as the Utes got goals from junior Natalie Vukic, junior Mariah Elmer, senior Taylor Slattery and former Ute Katie Taylor.
“I just thought [Utah Valley] was a talented team,” said head coach Rich Manning. “They worked very hard, and I think it was up to us to play at a good level and try to keep the ball as much as possible.”
Thirty minutes into the contest, neither team had scored, but that soon changed as Vukic scored the first goal of the game and brought the lead to 1-0 for Utah going into the second half.
Elmer scored the second goal for the Utes at the hour market in the second half, adding to Utah’s lead. But less than a minute later, Slattery took her shot and scored again for her team, bringing the lead to 3-0.
Securing the win with another goal, Slattery scored in the 69th minute and was assisted by Turang.
Turang said since it has been a few years, her team has been working on a lot of aspects of its playing, but added that her goal for the game on Friday is for her team to work hard.
“We’ve been getting a ton of chances up top,” Turang said. “Just attacking wise, we need to finish our opportunities and keep making those chances.”
Manning added that he expects the the game against Utah Valley to be a hostile, rowdy environment, as much as the team will see this entire year, and he believes that there will be a lot of people in attendance.
“It will have a feel of the BYU game in the sense that it is an in-state game and so we expect it to be a difficult environment, and I think it will be another good test for us,” Manning said. “I think after getting back home and rested up, we will have a good performance Friday.”
After their game against UVU, the Utes will travel back to their home field to compete against UC Irvine for the first time on Sunday, Sept. 18.
“[UC Irvine] is a good team,” Manning said. “They play good soccer, and they are having a really good season so far, so we expect it to be a real competitive game. I’m kind of excited to see how our team does.”
Friday’s game is set to begin at 7:00 p.m., with Sunday’s game beginning at 1:00 p.m. at the Ute Field.
@emileewhiteee