It has been a continuing struggle for the University of Utah soccer team who kicked off its away game weekend with a match against Oregon on Thursday that resulted in another loss. A first half goal for Oregon set the tone for the remainder of the game. The Utes trailed for the rest of the match, and they dropped another Pac-12 contest, this time 3-0.
“We did not perform our best,” said head coach Rich Manning. “It was just a little bit more of the same. We didn’t play great and that was disappointing. We gave up goal at inopportune times and again, that was disappointing. Once we got down 2-0 in the second half, I thought we fought and kept fighting, but we weren’t able to score and we have seen that happen before recently.”
It was a slow starting game for both teams, but Oregon was first to take shots on goal. With junior July Mathias as goalkeeper for the Utes, she managed to block the shots and Oregon’s goalie did the same when junior Paola Van der Veen took the first shot for her team. Oregon dominated the half as it took five shots compared to Utah’s two.
The first Oregon goal of the game happened when a cross from the far side put the ball in the penalty kick spot and the ball then wound up in the back of the net. With the Utes only trailing by one at the end of the half, it seemed like anyone’s game with 45 minutes left to play.
Any chance for the Utes to take home their first conference victory of the season decreased during the second half of the match. Only one minute into the second half, Oregon got another goal off a giveaway, bringing the score to 2-0. Junior Hailey Skolmoski tried to bring her team to life with a shot on goal, but the ball went wide and the Utes remained down.
With 10 minutes left in the game, Utah was scrambling for some quick goals to tie up the match and force it into overtime, but after another goal from Oregon, it was too late. While the last half of the game saw more shots being taken by the Utes with six, it wasn’t enough to earn them a victory.
“Overall, we are very disappointed,” Manning said. “We are going to have to regroup and try to get a better performance on Sunday. That’s our task right now.”
Up next for the Utes, they will finish their final road game of their regular season in Corvallis as they face Oregon State on Sunday, Oct. 29 on the Paul Lorenz Field at the Patrick Wayne Valley Stadium.
Kickoff is at 12 p.m. MT.
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