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Utah Soccer Wraps Up Regular Season This Weekend
10/27/2008 12:00 AM | Soccer
Oct. 27, 2008
Week 10 Game Notes in PDF Format 
SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah women's soccer team (9-8-2, 4-2-0 MWC) will look to clinch second place in the Mountain West Conference Friday as the Utes close our their season at Air Force (3-13-0, 0-6-0 MWC) at 5 p.m. MT.
The Utes enter the game with 12 conference points, two points ahead of both TCU and UNLV in the third slot. With a win at Air Force, Utah would clinch second place outright with 14 points. With a draw, Utah would hold 13 points and could be tied by either TCU or UNLV. The Utes hold the tiebreaker over the Rebels but would surrender second place to the Horned Frogs, provided that TCU defeats San Diego State on the road.
Utah proved last weekend that it can win both a shootout and a low-scoring struggle. Utah is coming off a 4-3 non-conference victory over Seattle and a 1-0 double-overtime grind against Wyoming.
After starting the season 1-5, Utah has gone 8-3-2 in its last 13 games. One of the largest factors in that turnaround can be credited to the offense coming together and producing goals. Utah scored just 11 goals through the first 12 games of the season. Since the 5-0 loss to BYU to open conference play, Utah has buried 13 goals in its last six games. Twice the Utes have netted a season-best four goals in a game during that stretch.
Utah is led offensively by a trio of threats: junior midfielder Kelly Isleib (6 g, 6 a, 18 pts), senior forward Katy Reineke (5 g, 4 a, 14 pts) and sophomore forward Lauren Hair (4 g, 1 a, 9 pts). Isleib has remained a steady presence throughout the season, while Reineke and Hair have broken through since the beginning of conference play to influence the score line.
In goal, freshman Hannah Turpen earned a starting role midway through conference play and has not disappointed. After playing the second half and being credited with the win in both the San Diego State and UNLV games, Turpen started her first game on the road against New Mexico and subsequently earned a shutout. She currently carries a 0.60 goals against average and a .769 save percentage.
Scouting The Air Force Academy Falcons...
Air Force enters this weekend still searching for its first Mountain West Conference victory. In fact, the Falcons have been shut out five times in six conference games and have scored just one goal in league play, in a 3-1 loss to UNLV. The academy's three wins on the year have come against Long Island, Army and Grambling.
Air Force's offense is led by Bridgett Murphy with six goals for 12 points. Just behind her is Roni Yadlin with four goals and one assist for nine points.
Defensively, Air Force has gotten contributions from three different goalkeepers. Leading the way is Ashlee Curtis, who has made 26 saves and allowed eight goals for a goals against average of 1.29. She holds the team's only solo shutout.
The Falcons are coached by Marty Buckley, now in his 17th year at the helm. Buckley is the only coach the academy has ever known, as his 110-181-19 record also reflects the school's all-time results.
Conference Roundup...
The MWC Tournament picture became clearer and more muddled simultaneously over the weekend. Utah put itself in great position to lock up second place in the conference and a first-round tournament bye with a win against Air Force in the final week. BYU has already clinched the conference championship and the No. 1 seed in the tournament.
The remaining four playoff spots are still up in the air. Wyoming needs a win at BYU and help from both New Mexico and San Diego State to sneak into the tourney. TCU, UNLV, New Mexico and San Diego State mathematically could all finish virtually anywhere between the No. 2 and the No. 6 spots in the conference.
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 the regular-season finale at Air Force:
"There is no doubt that playing at the academy never feels like just another game. You know you are playing against athletes who are fully dedicated and committed people. When you play them in Colorado Springs, it adds a dimension of respect and makes it feel like an honor to play against them. I'm sure I will have a lot of those same feelings Friday and I'm sure our team will as well. This will be Air Force's last game of the season, so I'm sure we will take their best shot, and we don't want any less than that. It will be a great challenge that competitors like ourselves look forward to."
On the team's ability to come back from 1-5 to be in a position for a first-round bye:
"Whenever you challenge yourself with a tough schedule and good opponents, there are two roads you can take. All of the competition and challenges can make you stronger or can sink your team, and our players have decided to be swimmers. They have battled and been able to tread water when things are tough. What is nice is that we went for a time where we weren't scoring and we were playing really good opponents, but here we are a month later. We decided to hang in there, and that is the most positive thing I can see. That is something we hang our hat on and treat as a badge of honor, that we went through a tough time and came out the other end.
"From a soccer standpoint, we have been able to shore up the defense. We are not giving up soft or untimely goals and our concentration is better. In the past two or three games, our offense has developed a personality. But more than that, we are stronger and we want to fight back."
Isleib Becomes Utes' All-Time Assist Leader...
Junior midfielder Kelly Isleib (Park City, Utah) posted a pair of assists last weekend to reach six on the season and 23 for her career, surpassing Amanda Feigt's previous school record of 22 (2003-06).
Isleib set a new school record last year for assists in a season with 13, bringing her career total to 17 and placing her fourth on the all-time Utah assists list entering the 2008 campaign.
Isleib is tied for fourth in the MWC in assists in all games but is No. 1 in the league when including only conference games. In addition to leading the team in game-winning goals (4), she is tied for the team lead in game-winning assists this year with two.
Hair Named MWC Offensive Player of the Week...
Sophomore forward Lauren Hair (Alpine, Utah) has been named the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday. Hair buried three goals in Utah's two wins over the weekend, including both game-winning strikes.
Hair's third goal of the weekend was arguably the most important one of the year for the Utes thus far. With her double-overtime conversion against Wyoming Sunday, Hair gave the Utes a 1-0 win and sole possession of second place in the conference. With a win or a tie against Air Force in their final regular-season game this Friday, Utah will earn a first-round bye in the MWC Tournament.
The weekly honor is the first of Hair's career. She becomes the third Ute to earn a weekly MWC honor this year. Hair joins Isleib, who was named Offensive Player of the Week on Oct. 13, and junior goalkeeper Emalee Rogers, who earned the defensive version of the award on Sept. 15.
Forbes Delivers Five-Point Weekend...
Freshman forward Chelsea Forbes (Bountiful, Utah) was highly involved in the Utah scoring attack this weekend, racking up five points on one goal and three assists, including two game-winning assists.
Forbes scored the first goal in Utah's 4-3 victory over Seattle Friday. She then assisted on the second goal of the game, playing a perfect through-ball to senior forward Katy Reineke. Her second assist of the game came on Hair's game-winner as she laid out another perfectly-weighted ball for the sophomore forward to run on to. In Utah's 1-0 double-overtime win against Wyoming Sunday, it was Forbes who flicked a header back to Isleib, who played the through-ball to Hair for the game-winning strike.
Turpen Plays 138 Minutes Of Shutout Ball...
Freshman goalkeeper Hannah Turpen (San Clemente, Calif.) held Wyoming scoreless through 109 minutes of play Sunday, allowing the Utes to come through with a last-minute game-winning goal. Turpen also started the 4-3 win against Seattle, holding the Redhawks scorless for 29 minutes before giving way to senior Amy Edman (Salt Lake City) in the non-conference contest.
Turpen has now kept two clean sheets in her four starts and maintains a 0.60 goals against average.
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