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Utah Soccer Hits The Road For Southwest Swing
10/13/2008 12:00 AM | Soccer
Oct. 13, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah women's soccer team (6-7-2, 2-1-0 MWC) hits the road this weekend for an important pair of Mountain West Conference matches. Utah will first head to Albuquerque for a 7 p.m. MT Thursday match against New Mexico (7-3-4, 2-1-0). The Utes then travel to Fort Worth, Texas for a 7 p.m. MT tilt against TCU Saturday.
Some positive results could give the Utes some breathing room in the MWC standings. Utah, New Mexico and TCU are three of the four teams currently tied for second in the conference table with six points, trailing BYU's nine.
The Saturday match against TCU could be particularly intriguing as it will feature four of the conference's leading offensive players: Utah's Kelly Isleib and Katy Reineke and TCU's Lizzy Karoly and Jordan Calhoun. All four players are among the league leaders in goals, assists, points, shots and shots on goal.
The Utes are carrying a lot of momentum as they enter this week following their first back-to-back wins of the year, including a 3-1 defeat of defending MWC champion UNLV. Before last week, Utah had scored two goals in a game only three times and had yet to score more than twice in a contest. The Utes exploded for seven combined goals in the two victories, adding four against San Diego State to the trifecta of strikes against the Rebels.
Utah holds a 9-4-2 advantage in the all-time series against New Mexico, including a 2-2-1 mark at the Lobos' home field. The last time the two teams met they played to a 0-0 tie in Salt Lake City in 2007. Utah's last win over the Lobos was a 2-1 overtime victory at home in the MWC Tournament in 2006. Utah had also won the regular-season meeting in Albuquerque by a 3-0 score. The last New Mexico victory over the Utes came in the MWC Tournament in 2005 as the Lobos captured a 1-0 affair in Las Vegas.
Utah and TCU have only met four times previously, splitting the contests 2-2. The Utes hope to buck the series trend that has each team undefeated on its home turf. The Horned Frogs won last year's meeting in Fort Worth by a 3-0 score. The previous two years saw Utah take down a 4-0 victory in 2006 and a 1-0 win in 2005, both in Salt Lake City. The first meeting of the two squads was a non-conference tilt played in 1997 and was won by TCU in a 2-1 affair.
Scouting The New Mexico Lobos...
New Mexico is also carrying the momentum of a two-win weekend as the Lobos defeated Air Force and Wyoming on the road, both by 1-0 scores.
The Lobo offense has received contributions from a slew of players, but is led by Hannah Hand's 12 points on two goals and eight assists. Four other players have contributed four goals and a total of 11 players have found the back of the net on the year. Additionally, five other players have notched at least one assist, for a total of 16 players getting involved in the attack.
Defensively, New Mexico looks to the reigning MWC Defensive Player of the Week, Shannon Adragna, and her 1.01 goals against average to be its last line of defense between the pipes. Adragna has made 57 saves on the year while conceding 15 goals and is coming off of a pair of shutouts in last weekend's action.
The Lobos are coached by Kit Vela. Now in her eighth year at the helm for UNM, she owns a 55-66-24 record. Vela brought back sev en starters and 14 letterwinners from last year's squad which posted an 8-5-4 record but went 2-3-2 in the MWC to finish seventh.
Scouting The TCU Horned Frogs...
The TCU Horned Frogs enter the weekend having won four of its last five matches, succumbing only to Wyoming last Friday in Laramie by a 1-0 score.
Offensivly, TCU has put forth some gaudy numbers, scoring at least three goals six times and tallying more than five goals on three separate occasions. Jordan Calhoun and Lizzy Karoly have combined for 20 goals this season, scoring 12 and eight, respectively. Karoly has been named the MWC Offensive Player of the Week three times, and Calhoun has earned that honor once.
Defensively, TCU looks to Kelsey Walters in goal. Walters has put forth a 0.70 goals against average and .845 save percentage, making 49 saves while conceding only nine goals. Lauren Wysoski and Kayde Bowman have also seen time in the net, with both players yet to give up a goal.
The Horned Frogs are coached by Dan Abdalla, now in hits 9th season with the Frogs, who holds an all-time record of 84-70-13. He brought back 10 starters and 16 letterwinners from his 2007 squad that went 8-11-0, 3-4-0 in the MWC, and finished 6th in the standings.
Conference Roundup...
Week two of the Mountain West Conference schedule created a shakeup in the standings as BYU took over the top spot with a perfect 3-0 MWC record. TCU's first conference loss, coupled with Utah's two-win effort, created a four-team log jam in the middle of the table as they are joined by New Mexico and Wyoming with 2-1-0 league records.
San Diego State and Air Force are still searching for their first conference points, while defending MWC regular-season champion UNLV's two losses last week leave them with just three points through three games.
From The Mind Of Manning...
Quotes from Utah head coach Rich Manning regarding his squad, this week's opponents and other items of note:
On this week's road games at New Mexico and TCU:
"We dropped points to both of these teams last year. They are each dangerous in different ways. New Mexico is relentlessly committed to defending and they are very tough to break down. TCU is a full-throttle attack with speed and numbers coming at you. They are extremely difficult opponents. "We played a very competitive schedule with some tough road trips in the non-conference part of our season in preparation for this weekend. Now we will see if that pays off."
On last week's offensive surge:
"It remains to be seen if last week's results will propel us into more success. It is always nice to see your attacking players be aggressive, create chances and finish those chances. Our sport has a history of players and teams going on scoring streaks. Hopefully that is the start of one for some of our individuals and our squad. That being said, at the end of the day, the result is all that matters."
Islieb Is MWC Offensive Player of the Week...
Junior midfielder Kelly Isleib (Park City, Utah) of the University of Utah soccer team has been selected as the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday.
Isleib earned the award following a stellar weekend in which she led the Utes to a pair of conference victories with two breakout offensive performances. In last Thursday's 4-1 victory against San Diego State, Isleib scored the game-winning goal as she put back her own rebound off of a penalty kick and assisted on three other Utah goals. With that performance, she became the first Ute since Staci Burt in 1999 to record three assists in an MWC game and the first Utah player to rack up five points in a conference contest since Lauren Field in 2003.
Isleib followed up that effort in tough conditions Saturday as she posted the game-winning assist against defending MWC champion UNLV. Her perfectly weighted pass into the box allowed sophomore forward Lauren Hair (Alpine, Utah) to easily put away the game-winning goal.
All told for the weekend, Isleib scored one goal and posted four assists for a total of six points. She leads the team in goals scored (6), assists (4), points (16) and game-winning goals (4). Isleib is second on the team in shots taken (50) and shots on goal (19). She also ranks in the top 10 in the MWC in each of those categories.
Isleib is just two helpers shy of tying the Utah career assist record of 22 held by Amanda Feigt (2003-06).
Porter Continues To Come Up Big...
Freshman defender Lauren Porter (Salt Lake City) continued her stellar play at both ends of the field this weekend, coming up big offensively and defensively.
Less than two minutes in to the second half of last Saturday's game against UNLV, Porter pulled Utah from a 1-0 deficit with her second goal of the season as she put away a header off of a Katy Reineke corner kick.
Both of Porter's goals this year have been headers from Reineke corner attempts and each has played a pivotal part in a successful Utah effort. Her previous goal was the game-winner in Utah's 1-0 win against Long Beach State.
Defensively, Porter continued to be a monster in the air, clearing out several opponent corner kicks and long balls.
Reineke Explodes For Three Goals...
Senior forward Katy Reineke (Salt Lake City) is coming off of a breakout weekend in which she scored three goals and logged a game-tying assist to total seven points. After not scoring in the run of play in 13 games, Reineke found the back of the net twice against San Diego State, scoring the first and third goals in a 4-1 win against the Aztecs. She then struck a perfect corner kick which found the head of Lauren Porter and pulled the Utes back to a 1-1 tie with UNLV. Utah would go on to win, 3-1. Reineke was a missed penalty kick away from recording a hat-trick.
Hair Cracks The Stat Sheet...
Sophomore forward Lauren Hair (Alpine, Utah) tallied her first goal of the 2008 campaign last Saturday, recording the game-winning goal in Utah's 3-1 win over defending MWC champion UNLV. After several near misses and some bad luck, Hair's goal-less streak came to an end when she finished off a perfectly weighted pass from Kelly Isleib in the penalty box.
Despite not scoring until Saturday, Hair has played a key role in Utah's offensive chances all year. Her industry up top has earned the Utes several free kicks around the penalty box and she has drawn at least three fouls in the box that have resulted in penalty kicks. In addition to her goal, Hair has one assist to her credit this year.
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