After competing on the road for the first three games of the Pac-12 season, Utah soccer will take to Ute Field on Thursday, Oct. 6 against Oregon State followed by a match on Sunday, Oct. 9, against Oregon.
Sophomore Eden Jacobsen said that in preparation for the Homecoming game against the Beavers, her team has been practicing hard and they have been tapping into their competitive side.
“Going into all of our Pac-12 games, I feel like we have had a really competitive mind set,” Jacobsen said. “So I think we are just sticking to what we did against Arizona, because it seemed to work.”
This past weekend, Utah soccer traveled to Arizona to compete against Arizona State and Arizona. After tying the game against the Sun Devils, the Utes snagged a 2-1 victory over the Wildcats. For Jacobsen, the win against Arizona brought the confidence levels up for the entire team.
“Any of the Pac-12 wins really brings a positive energy,” said head coach Rich Manning. “Each game is such a challenge that when you walk away with a win, it really charges you for the next one.”
Channeling the energy from the win, Eden and her team hope to use it to help them beat both of the Oregon teams. Since 2013, the Utes haven’t lost to the Beavers.
For Manning, he isn’t thinking about past games, but instead is just trying to get the team back in the rhythm of being home — back to normalcy on and off the field.
“I think getting back to normalcy will help the team,” Manning said. “Then the regular things we do for each opponent will help us prepare for the games, like work on some of the things we do well to get a stop and take advantage of those aspects.”
In order for Jacobsen and her team to walk away with two wins this weekend, she feels that they need to keep better possession of the ball. If they can do that, Jacobsen is positive the team will reach its goals.
“We just want to keep playing well, and we want to keep improving,” Manning said. “We have been doing some stuff very well, and I think there are some things that we can do better. If we keep improving throughout October then it will bring us success in the games.”
The Utes are in action Thursday, Oct. 6 and Sunday, Oct. 9. Kickoff is set to begin at 7:00 and 2:00 p.m., respectively.
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