Utah Soccer Opens Season with 0-0 Draw at Fullerton

Friday, August 19

Fullerton, Calif.

7:00 PM

University of Utah

Cal State Fullerton

Utah Soccer Opens Season with 0-0 Draw at Fullerton

8/19/2011 12:00 AM | Soccer

Aug. 19, 2011

Box Score

FULLERTON, Calif. - The University of Utah women's soccer team (0-0-1) opened up the 2011 season with a 0-0 draw at Cal State Fullerton (0-0-1), Friday. Sophomore goalkeeper Cheyanne Mulcock, who came on at halftime, was the story of the game for the Utes as she made several key saves, including a pair of breakaway stops.

"I was really proud of our team's effort tonight," said Utah head coach Rich Manning. "We fought hard and showed a competitive spirit. We got some great goalkeeping, we had five freshmen get their first collegiate experience and to have Allie Wisner back out there after a redshirt year was a big boost as well. I think everyone understands this is the first game of the year and we are going to make some mistakes, but we showed heart and we definitely have something to build on."

Mulcock, whose strong effort in training camp earned some early-season playing time, came on at the half in place of senior Hannah Turpen and saved all four of Fullerton's attempts on goal, including two impressive stops on clear scoring opportunities. Just a few minutes into the second half, Fullerton sprung a player on a breakaway down the middle. The Titan decided to shoot around the top of the 18-yard box and Mulcock, who had come well off her line to cut down the angle, dove to her right for the highlight-reel save.

With less than 15 minutes left in the game, Mulcock faced another wide-open shot, in fact a two-on-one against a pair of Titans, and managed to deflect the incoming shot with a quick right-leg kick-save. Just a couple minutes later, a 23-yard laser headed straight to the left post was snatched by Mulcock as well.

"Cheyanne and Hannah both had great training camps and [Chey] showed that she deserved some playing time," said Manning. "I thought she really managed situations well and made some great saves. Both goalkeepers were very good back there."

Utah's best scoring chance of the contest came with less than three minutes remaining in the second overtime period as freshman forward Jill Robison drilled a right-footed cross from the right wing that sliced across the face of goal and pinged squarely off the goalpost, mere inches from giving the Utes a golden-goal victory in her collegiate debut.

Manning and his staff showed confidence in their youthful squad as seven of the 11 starters were freshmen and sophomores, while four more underclassmen came on as substitutes.

The Utes were out-shot in the contest, 11-5, with shots on goal going 4-0 for the Titans. Corner kicks were 2-1 in Fullerton's favor, while Utah committed 13 fouls to CSF's 10. Fullerton was whistled for seven offside infractions and the Utes were called for three.

Utah is back in action Tuesday, Aug. 23, as the Utes face BYU in Provo, Utah. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. MT. The Utes' first home game will be Sunday, Aug. 28, at 1 p.m. as they host Nevada at Ute Field.