Utah at No. 10 BYU
Date: Friday, September 6
Location: Provo, Utah
Kickoff: 7 p.m.
TV: BYU TV
Live Stream: BYUtv.org
Listen: ESPN 960
Live Stats: BYUCougars.com
WATCH |
LIVE STATS |
LISTEN |
TICKETS
Â
Utah at Boise State
Date: Sunday, September 8
Location: Boise, Idaho
Kickoff: 1 p.m.
Live Stream: Mountain West Digital Network
Live Stats: BroncoSports.com
Â
WATCH |
LIVE STATS
Â
KICKOFF
Utah Soccer is back on the road for the second time in three weeks with trips to No. 10 BYU and Boise State this weekend. The annual rivalry game against the Cougars is set for 7 p.m. on Friday with the contest against the Broncos scheduled for a 1 p.m. kick-off on Sunday.
Â
QUICK KICKS
•    Utah's last win on in a true road game against a Top 10 team was in 2004, when it toppled No. 7 UCLA, 2-1.
•    Utah's last win away from home against a Top 10 team occurred in the 2016 NCAA Tournament as
Haylee Cacciacarne scored the winner against No. 10 Florida State in Los Angeles
•    Last season, Utah took down No. 7 Washington State at Ute Field, 1-0, with
Holly Daugirda scoring the overtime winner
•    After being selected ninth in the Pac-12's 2018 preseason poll, the Utes finished fourth, their second-best finish since joining the conference in 2011.
•    Utah started 18 different players, 15 of them return this season, and used 13 contrasting lineups
•    Four returners started every game last season;
Holly Daugirda,
Haylee Cacciacarne,
Hailey Stodden and
Carly Nelson
•    Utah shut out four Pac-12 opponents in a row last season, the longest scoreless streak for a Ute defense since 2006
Â
DUNN DOING WORK
After one point in her first two seasons (40 games),
Ireland Dunn broke out during her junior campaign with 16 points, second most on the team. In Pac-12 play, she led the league with six helpers and ranked ninth in points
Â
She became the first Utah player with at least five assists in conference play since Kelly Isleib in 2008 and her seven assists were the most by an Ute since Isleib's school record 13 in 2007.
Â
NELSON IN NET
Carly Nelson, a two-time Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week (10/9 and 11/6) made 92 saves last season, the most of any goalkeeper in the Pac-12. She started every game and played a career-high 1,698 minutes, earning eight shutouts, fourth most in the Pac-12.
Â
The senior made a career-high 11 saves in a tie with No. 2 USC and had another double-digit outing (10) in a shutout win at No. 21 Colorado. She needs 78 saves to move into to the top five all-time at Utah and three shutouts to catch Tawni Martineau on the career list (18).
Â
STODDEN STEPS UP
Hailey Stodden was named to the Pac-12's All-Freshmen Team last season after starting every game for Utah, mainly as an outside back. She helped stabilize a defense that lost its two center backs to injury midway through conference play and still managed to register six shutouts.
Â
The Broomfield, Colorado native scored the winner in the season finale at No. 21 CU. The first goal of her career helped the Utes to its first true road win over a Top 25 team since 2007.
Â
SERIES HISTORY
Utah is 7-22-2 all-time against the Cougars, 3-12-2 away from home. Last season, BYU tallied the winner with five minutes to play after Utah rallied back from a two-goal deficit as
Â
Ireland Dunn and
Holly Daugirda set up both scores. The last trip to Provo ended in a draw as the Cougars canceled out an early Ute goal.
Â
Utah's last win in the series was back in 2014 at Ute Field when senior Katie Taylor scored the deciding penalty in the 84th minute of a 1-0 contest. The last victory in Provo for the Utes occurred in 2007 when senior Melissa Crespo headed home on the hour for another 1-0 triumph. Utah is 44-30-3 against in-state foes (USU, UVU, SUU, WSU and BYU).
Â
The Utes are unbeaten in seven contests with the Broncos (5-0-2) but have just one win in the last three meetings. Both ties between the teams have taken place in Boise, including the last match in 2015. Utah is 88-27-13 against teams from the Mountain West Conference, where it played from 1999-2011, with a 41-19-7 away from home.
Â
UTAH TABBED EIGHTH IN PRESEASON POLL
The University of Utah soccer team was picked to finish eighth in the Pac-12 Conference this season, according to a preseason poll of the league's coaches. The Utes return 15 players who started a game last season as the team placed fourth in the Pac-12 behind three squads that finished the year ranked in the Top 10 nationally.
Â
The league's coaches picked Stanford to win the 2019 Pac-12 women's soccer crown and UCLA to finish second. The Cardinal played the Bruins in the 2017 national championship game and the two teams rank third and fourth respectively in the national polls to open the season. USC, the 2016 national champion, is ranked No. 5 nationally and slotted third in the Pac-12. Washington State (29 votes), Colorado (13), California (10), Arizona (37) and Arizona State (5) are all receiving votes in the preseason national rankings, along with the Utes (29)
Â
UTES RACK UP ACADEMIC AWARDS
Utah Soccer placed a record three student-athletes on the Pac-12 All-Academic First Team and had 12 Utes recognized by the conference due to their academic success last season.
Â
Natalie Kump (3.99, Chemistry) was recognized for the first time, making the First Team.
Jessica Hixson (3.87, Human Development and Family Studies) was the only Utah player selected to the second team and it was also her first conference honor.
Â
Eight student-athletes received honorable mention status.
Haylee Cacciacarne,
Holly Daugirda,
Ireland Dunn,
Kristin Fairbairn,
Aleea Gwerder and
Carly Nelson made an all-academic team for a second time and
Tatum Thornton also picked up her first academic accolade from the conference.
Â
FRESHMEN TO KEEP AN EYE ON
Kylee Geis, a midfielder from Boise was the 5A Idaho State Player of the Year and an IMG Academy Top 100 player. She led Borah High School to a conference championship and scored 35 goals while dishing out 47 assists. Geis was also named to the Elite Clubs National League Northwest All-Conference Team and was a member of the ECNL National Training Camp after helping her team claim a US Club Regional championship
Â
Payton McBride, a defender and high school teammate of Geis' was named First Team SIC All-Conference and helped FC Nova capture a ECNL conference championship. For her play, she was invited to the ECNL Northwest PDP and earned an IMG Academy Top 150 selection. She was also a state finalist in the 400 meters for track and defensive player of the year in basketball.
Â
Courtney Talbot, a midfielder from West Haven was named Deseret News All-State and led Fremont High School to a state cup championships. She also played with teammate
Sidney Roberts at La Roca. The local club team has also produced current Utes
Haylee Cacciacarne, Lulu Borges and
Anna Escobedo.
Â
Ali Schinko, a midfielder from Baden-Württemberg, Germany, was one of the youngest players on her TSG 1899 Hoffenheim team as it captured consecutive 2nd Bundesliga Sud titles. Prior to that she netted 42 goals in two seasons with the Hoffenheim youth team and was the team captain as her side was crowned champion of south Germany.
Â