Over the weekend, the Utah soccer team traveled to California to continue Pac-12 play as it competed against No. 10 Cal (Oct. 20) and No. 3 Stanford (Oct. 23). After a tied game (1-1) against Cal, the Utes were handed their first defeat of the season by Stanford (2-0).
“We got tested against two really strong teams and I thought we competed well,” said head coach Rich Manning. “We played some good soccer and we were able to get a point against Cal, which I think really helped. I think we improved over the weekend, and we are really looking forward to coming back and playing against them.”
On Friday, Utah started its weekend with a game against the Bears, who has the strongest defense in the Pac-12, only allowing six points against them so far this season. But that quickly changed in the 23rd minute when senior Taylor Slattery scored on them.
Shortly after, the Bears quickly tied up the game as a shot by one of the players landed in the back of the net. Fortunately, Utah’s goalkeeper managed to fend off any more attempts that were made and she brought the game into double overtime, which ultimately lead to the draw between the teams.
The Utes weren’t fortunate enough to stop Stanford on Sunday, however, and they fell to their opponent as they allowed two goals. Though the Utes lost, they didn’t go down without a fight. Senior Katie Rogers and sophomore Hailey Skolmoski had a few shots on the goal, but the ball couldn’t make it into the net.
“We worked really hard and we worked well as team,” said freshman Natalee Wells. “We were able to learn a lot, especially from the Stanford game, because they are a fast-paced team. We were able to create multiple opportunities for goals during the game.”
Up next for the Utes, they will take on two more California teams this week at Ute Field. USC will be first to play against Utah on Thursday, Oct. 27, and the weekend will continue with a game against UCLA Sunday, Oct. 30.
“First of all, the goals are to get points and get ties or wins, and that’s really important,” Manning said. “We want to continue to improve on both the offense and the defense and see if we can put together two strong halves and play at the same level of these Pac-12 teams.”
Kickoff is set to begin 7:00 p.m. and 2:00 p.m., respectively.
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