Over the weekend, Utah welcomed two squads to Ute Field for its first two games in Salt Lake City of the 2014 season. The Utes gave their fans something to cheer about as they registered two wins, remaining undefeated thus far in the campaign.
On Friday night, the team took down Boise State in a 2-1 thriller while on Sunday, it beat Cal State Northridge, 2-0.
Against the Broncos, junior Kaycee Buckley opened the scoring in the 24th minute of play, making it 1-0 early on. The game would stay at that score until the 75th minute, when senior Avery Jenkins added another goal for the Utes. Boise State made a late push with a goal in the 87th minute, but Utah was able to hold off the late surge of attack from the Broncos and snag the win.
“We scored two incredibly high-level goals,” said head coach Rich Manning. “It’s always fun to see that.”
The late Bronco goal came from a slip-up from junior keeper Lindsey Luke. A strike from about 40 yards out headed straight for Luke, but she misjudged the shot and it slipped through her hands and into the back of the net.
“At the end of the game, when it became a one-goal game, now it’s anything can happen,” Manning said. “It’s early in the season, and these are good lessons for us.”
Manning’s biggest concern from the game against Boise State was not so much how the team played, but how two of his starters are doing. Senior Ashton Hall and sophomore Katie Rigby both went down with knee injuries and had to be carried off the field. Once the game ended, Hall was walking around on crutches while Rigby was still being checked by medical staff.
Both Hall and Rigby are strong influential players who can make a difference on the attack. Manning is hopeful that both injuries won’t be serious.
“We’ll cross our fingers and hope for the best,” he said.
However, neither Rigby nor Hall played in the game against the Matadors.
On Sunday afternoon, it was obvious Utah was missing its two seniors as the Utes struggled to find their rhythm in the first 15 minutes of each half. However, after some adjustments were made, the goals started to come. Juniors Baylee Nielsen and Megan Trabert were both able to find the back of the net as they led Utah to victory.
“Overall, pleased that we were grinded a bit,” Manning said. “We were opportunistic.”
Utah started out the game trying to force its way down the center of the field, but the CSN defense was not making it easy for the Utes. After some back-and-forth from the two sides, Buckley noticed the gameplan was not working and that something needed to change.
“If you are a player, it is your role to let your other players know what the opposing team is giving you,” Buckley said. “My role as a player of this team is to help us win, and if I see an opportunity or a play the other team is making, it’s my role to let them know, ‘Hey this is where we need to attack because this is where we are going to score.’ ”
Buckley’s call was the right one, and a few minutes later, a cross from senior Katie Taylor found Buckley’s foot. She played an extra pass to Nielsen, who powered in a shot to the near post for Utah’s first goal.
The Utes’ second goal came from a corner kick taken by Jenkins as she played a long ball to the back post. Defender Trabert then jumped to get her head on the ball and guided it into the back of the net for the final score of the game.
Even though Utah came away with the victory, Manning showed some worry about how his team performed at the beginning of each half.
“We want to start the half strong,” Manning said. “Sometimes when you come off the field at halftime and have the lead, sometimes they think it’s going to start up the same as it was.”
Because of the injuries to their two seniors, the Utes had to make some changes as Nielsen filled in for Hall and sophomore Mikayla Elmer replaced Rigby. The performances from Nielsen and Elmer received praise from the head coach after the game.
“It’s definitely an adjustment. People had to step and perform new roles,” Manning said. “I was very pleased with Mikayla Elmer. She got her first start and did a lot of good things.”
Utah looks to continue its unbeaten streak this coming weekend, but it will not be an easy task as it takes on its rival, BYU. The game is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. MT on Friday evening.
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