Upcoming Event: Soccer at TCU on September 19, 2025 at 6 p.m.
6 p.m.
Soccer
at TCU
Utah Soccer Hits The Road For Two MWC Matches
10/5/2009 12:00 AM | Soccer
Oct. 5, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
This Week's Action...
The Utah soccer team (5-7-1, 0-1-0) is still looking to turn its luck around after yet another tough loss last week in its conference opener. The Utes will travel to Las Vegas to face UNLV (4-4-4, 0-1-0) Thursday, Oct. 8, at 7 p.m. PT. They will then head to San Diego for a Saturday contest against SDSU (7-3-3, 0-0-0) at 12 p.m. PT.
The All-Time Series...
Utah leads the all-time series against both of this week's opponents with a combined record of 20-6-5. Against UNLV, Utah holds a 9-3-3 record, including a 3-1-1 mark in Las Vegas. The Utes are 11-3-2 all-time against San Diego State, with a 5-1-0 record on the Aztecs' home field.
The Utes are 3-1-1 in their last four regular-season games against UNLV. Utah has not lost to UNLV in the regular season since 2004.
Utah has gone 7-0-2 in its last nine meetings with San Diego State and hasn't lost to the Aztecs since Oct. 11, 2001. That stretch includes a 3-0 win in the 2001 Mountain West Conference Tournament and a 1-1 draw in the 2004 MWC Tournament that saw the Aztecs advance on penalty kicks.
Utah's Last Action...
Tough luck befell the Utes once again last Saturday as they fell in overtime at BYU, 2-1. After going down 1-0 less than two minutes into the game on a penalty kick, Utah bounced back later in the first half as senior midfielder Kelly Isleib (Park City, Utah) struck a one-time laser into the back of the net to tie it up at 1-1. With 43 seconds left in overtime, BYU was able to finish off a loose ball in the Utah box to come away with the victory.
Last Time They Played...
Utah defeated both San Diego State and UNLV last year in Salt Lake City in back-to-back games. In a 4-1 victory against San Diego State, current Utes Isleib and Mallory Mitamura (Centerville, Utah) accounted for two of Utah's four goals, while current Aztec player Cat Walker was the goal-scorer for SDSU.
In last year's 3-1 win against UNLV, current Utes Lauren Porter (Salt Lake City) and Lauren Hair (Alpine, Utah) found the back of the net.
Scouting This Week's Opposition...
UNLV - The Rebels come into Thursday night's game following a neutral-site split last weekend at the San Diego State Classic. UNLV opened with a 2-1 win against Seattle, then fell to Oregon State by a 3-0 score.
UNLV is led offensively by Jenna Larkin's three goals. Shannon Hughes and Colette Jepson have each scored twice, while Hughes has also added an assist. Amanda Forrester has taken the most shots on the squad (19), scoring once. She is also tied with Dani Morin for the team lead in assists with two.
In goal for the Rebels is Alicia Lugo, who has played every minute of the season between the pipes. Lugo has logged 62 saves for an .827 save percentage, while posting four shutouts. She has given up 13 opponent goals for a 1.00 goals-against-average.
The Rebels are led by fifth-year head coach Katherine Mertz, who holds a 48-34-18 record for a .570 winning percentage.
San Diego State - The Aztecs open their MWC schedule Thursday against BYU before hosting the Utes Saturday. Coming into this week's action, SDSU is unbeaten in its last six games, going 4-0-2 over that stretch. Last weekend, the Aztecs tied Oregon State, 1-1, then defeated Seattle, 2-0, in the San Diego State Classic.
Offensively, Cat Walker leads the Rebels in scoring with four goals on a team-high 36 shots and is tied for the team lead with three assists. Niki Fernandes has scored three times while Jessica Gordon and Hayley Marsh have each added two goals.
Guarding the net for the Aztecs this year is Aubree Southwick, who has made 47 saves for a .758 save percentage, while allowing 15 goals for a 1.09 goals-against-average. She has also notched five shutouts, tying for second in the MWC.
SDSU is coached by Mike Friesen, now in his third year, who holds a career record of 22-21-9 (.510).
MWC Week In Review...
Conference play kicked off last weekend with three matches. The Utes fell at BYU in overtime, 2-1, in arguably the weekend's most exciting contest. New Mexico also got an early leg up in the league race, defeating TCU 1-0 in Albuquerque. Wyoming got off to a solid start as well, recording a 3-1 victory over Air Force. San Diego State and UNLV were not in action last weekend and begin their league slate this week.
Utes Continue To Get Strong Production From Freshman Class...
In Utah's 2-1 overtime loss to Utah State, freshman midfielder/defender Zoe Van Gorder (Park City, Utah) scored her second goal of the season, both on headers, bringing her into a tie as the team's third-leading scorer.
In the previous contest, a 2-2 draw with Loyola Marymount, freshman forward Hanna Terry (Park City, Utah) scored the game's first goal off an assist from freshman midfielder Stephanie Lemeza (Mississauga, Ontario). Terry is now tied as the team's second-leading scorer with three goals, while Lemeza is tied for third in assists with two. The tally marked the third time this year that a freshman has linked up with another freshman for a goal, giving the Utes a glimpse at what they believe is a bright future for this crop of newcomers.
With five of the seven freshmen on the roster logging at least one goal or assist, the class as a whole has accounted for six scores and four helpers (16 points), or roughly 29% of the team's total offense. All seven have seen significant playing time with Terry (12 starts), Allie Wisner (Bozeman, Mont.) (10), Lemeza (5) and Van Gorder (2) all cracking the starting lineup.
Defensive Trends...
Utah has held its opponents scoreless on four occasions this year, going 4-0 in those contests. However, when allowing at least one goal, Utah's record drops to 1-7-1.
Threatening From Everywhere...
Utah has now scored 20 goals on the year with 10 different players finding the back of the net. The Utes have had offensive production from all over the field, evidenced by the following goal breakdown by position: forward (11), holding midfield (6), center back (2), attacking midfield (1) and outside back (1). Utah has gotten multiple goals from six players, while five others have lit up the scoreboard once.
Manning Notches 100th Career Victory As Utes Shut Out Princeton...
Manning earned his 100th career win with the 2-0 victory against Princeton, all of which have come at Utah. Averaging more than 13.5 wins per year over his previous seven years, Manning looks to become only the second MWC coach ever to hit the century mark, joining BYU's Jennifer Rockwood.
Utah Picks Up First Ranked Win Since 2007...
With the 1-0 victory against No. 19-ranked Santa Clara on Aug. 28, Utah registered its first win over a ranked opponent since beating No. 16 BYU in Provo, 1-0, in October of 2007. It was the Utes' first victory over a ranked opponent at home since defeating No. 15 BYU, 1-0, in October of 2006.
Facing A Tough Schedule...
The Utes have never strayed from their goal of playing a diverse, difficult schedule year-in year-out. According to last week's NSCAA Top-25 Poll, six of Utah's opponents were ranked or receiving votes, listed here with the match date, or result if already played: No. 3 UCLA (L, 6-1), No. 11 Santa Clara (W, 1-0), RV Oklahoma State (away, 10/29), RV BYU (L, 2-1 (ot)), RV William & Mary (L, 3-1) and RV Loyola Marymount (T, 2-2 (2ot)). At the time of Utah's match at Colorado, the Buffaloes were ranked No. 23 (L, 2-1), while Pepperdine (L, 1-0) was also receiving votes. Both have since fallen out of top-25 consideration. This week's poll has not yet been released.
Utes Tie For Second In Preseason MWC Poll...
Utah has been selected second in the MWC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Utes are predicted to finish behind BYU, who received 49 points and seven of eight first-place votes to capture the top spot. TCU received the only other first-place vote in the poll.
San Diego State and UNLV were predicted to finish in fourth and fifth place with 30 and 28 points, respectively. New Mexico was ranked sixth (18 points), while Wyoming (14 points) and Air Force (7 points) rounded out the top eight.
Utah's Mountain West Conference History...
Utah captured its first conference title in 1999, the inaugural year of the MWC. The Utes were named co-champions as they finished in a three-way tie with San Diego State and BYU.
Utah's next league title came in 2003, as the Utes swept both the MWC regular-season and tournament championships. Utah went undefeated in conference play for the first time in school history, posting a 6-0-0 record. The Utes then topped BYU by a 2-0 score in the tournament championship match, held in Salt Lake City. The successful 2003 campaign kicked off a string of four straight years in which either the regular season or conference tournament hardware would rest in the Utes' trophy case at season's end.
In 2004, Utah won its second consecutive MWC Tournament championship, advancing past San Diego State in the finals. The match was tied 1-1 following regulation and overtime play, but the Utes eventually conquered the Aztecs in penalty kicks to claim the title.
The 2005 season saw Utah finish atop the MWC standings in the regular season, posting another undefeated conference record at 6-0-1.
With another flawless year in 2006, registering a 7-0-0 record, Utah joined BYU as the only two programs in the MWC's history to post back-to-back unbeaten seasons. Utah and BYU also share the distinction of being the two most successful soccer programs in MWC history. Utah has captured either the regular-season or conference tournament championship five times, while BYU has claimed a title eight times. Both squads have also twice doubled up to sweep both titles in the same year.
From the Mind of Manning...
On playing UNLV and San Diego State this week:
"UNLV is always a team that plays with lot of pride and is well organized. They have had a lot of success in our conference over the last several years and I think they will step up their play in the conference again this season. They have a very good, experience goalkeeper in Alicia Lugo, and some fast players up top. I think it will be tight game with one goal probably making the difference.
"SDSU is off to a fantastic start this year and they will be carrying a lot of momentum from their non-conference games. They too have a very good goalkeeper in Aubrey Southwick and a dynamic attacking player in Cat Walker. Hopeful we will be able to bounce back from our Thursday night game at UNLV to give a good effort in the second game of this road trip."
Thoughts on the BYU game and the team's confidence:
"I think some of the struggles we have had recently have brought the team closer togeether. The players have re-committied to getting back on track and in a sense that has improved their teamwork. I thought that was very apparent in our performance on Saturday.
"I think we still have to execute better. Having the heart and the teamwork is very important, but better execution and consistentcy is now going to be the key for us. I think when all that comes together, we will get the results and the players' confidence will soar once again."
Players Mentioned
Defender
/ Soccer
Forward
/ Soccer
F
/ Soccer
Midfielder
/ Soccer
Midfielder
/ Soccer
Midfielder
/ Soccer
Midfielder
/ SoccerUtah Soccer's Grace Watkins - ESPN+ Feature
Sunday, September 14
Utah Soccer's Devi Dudley - ESPN+ Feature
Thursday, September 11
Utah Soccer's Ava Hetzel - ESPN+ Feature
Monday, September 08
Crimson Corner with Bill Riley - Ron McBride
Wednesday, September 03