It was the regular season opener for the University of Utah soccer team as it took on South Dakota State on Sunday afternoon. The two teams faced each other on the Ute Soccer Field, where the Utes came away victors with a 4-1 win over the Jackrabbits.
“I was really proud with the way we kind of figured out the challenges that [South Dakota State] was posing for us as we went along,” said head coach Rich Manning. “Obviously we didn’t get off to a great start, but I think some of that is first game feelings. They played Friday and we didn’t, but I was really pleased that we made some adjustments and the girls really took to it. We scored four spectacular goals and that’s always a good sign.”
Early in the first half, sophomore goalie Carly Nelson saved a header by the Jackrabbits, which prevented them from taking a lead over the Utes. However, the Jackrabbits struck back quickly as they scored the first goal nine minutes into the match, making the score 1-0.
Utah had their first opportunity to tie the score on a corner kick, but when they failed to sink the ball in the net, it was junior Hailey Skolmoski who brought her team back into the game. Skolmoski tied the match at 1-1 before junior Eden Jacobsen found the back of the net to give the Utes a 2-1 lead over South Dakota State. Utah kept the Jackrabbits silent for the remainder of the match.
“I thought we started a little bit slow,” Skolmoski said. “But we worked out the kinks and we were able to find the back of the net four times, which is awesome just coming right into the season so I thought we played well. We definitely have some room to improve, but overall it was good.”
Heading into the second half, the Utes shot another two goals before the match came to a close. Junior Paola Van Der Veen took advantage of an opportunity four minutes into the second half, when she added another goal to her team’s score. Skolmoski quickly followed in her teammates’ footsteps a minute later with a goal —her second goal of the match — to put the Utes three points ahead of their opponent.
For the remainder of the contest, both Utah and South Dakota State showed strong offensive and defensive performances, as the two prevented each other from scoring another goal. For Manning, this match showed him what areas need to be focused on, and where improvements can be made.
“We need to play faster and we need to defend a little bit better,” Manning said. “With our set pieces, I think we can work on defense a little bit more, but we have a lot of people playing. We had 20 people playing and for five or six of them, it was their first college game, but overall they were great.”
Up next for the Utes, they will host in-state foe Utah State on Thursday, Aug. 24 at 7:30 p.m. MT.
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