Utah Soccer Looking to Rebound After Two Straight Losses in Washington
Utah Soccer’s Goalkeeper, Evie Vitali (#29), dives while attempting to stop the game winning shot which came in the 90th minute from Cal State, Fullerton’s Maddie Kline (#7) during the match at Ute Field on campus on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2022. (Photo by Jack Gambassi | The Daily Utah Chronicle)
October 6, 2022
The Utah soccer team is looking to rebound after suffering two straight losses to Washington and Washington State. The squad traveled to Washington with aspirations of continuing their winning ways but could not capitalize in both matches despite playing two competitive games.
The Utes (5-2-2) squared off against the Washington Huskies (6-1-2) this past Thursday in Seattle. Despite trailing 2-0 early on in the match, the Utes erased their early deficit and were able to tie the score at two apiece. The Huskies, however, were able to score a late goal and win the match by a score of 3-2. Although they lost, the Utes put up a valiant effort against a solid Huskies team.
The Huskies started strong early as they were able to score 2 goals within the first 15 minutes of the match. The Utes took the early deficit as motivation, as junior Taliana Kaufusi was able to score a goal in the 27th minute by way of a Courtney Brown assist.
The score remained 2-1 in favor of the Huskies up until the 85th minute when the Utes were able to score a game-tying goal. Senior midfielder Madeline Vegura was able to strike a ball past Washington keeper Olivia Sekany to level the score. Unfortunately for the Utes, this lead was not kept for long, as Washington’s Shae Holmes was able to capitalize on a free kick in what turned out to be the game-winning goal for the Huskies.
Looking to rebound after their loss to the Huskies, the Utah soccer team (5-3-2) traveled to Pullman to square off against the Washington State Cougars (7-1-2). Despite having numerous chances the Utes were unable to score and were handed their second straight loss by a score of 1-0.
Much like the Washington game, the Utes fell behind early conceiving a goal in the 9th minute to Cougar forward Grayson Lynch. In the 16th minute, Kaufusi had a great chance of tying the game but was bested by WSU goalkeeper Nadia Cooper.
The best chance the Utes had came in the 84th minute as a cross from Utah’s Raegen Fuller came to freshman Kelly Bullock just outside the six-yard box, unfortunately Cooper was able to a diving stop which proved to be the final one she needed as the Cougs were able to shutout the Utes.
