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Thursday, October 10
Manhattan, KS
6 p.m.
University of Utah
at
Kansas State
Utah Soccer Continuing Conference Play by Taking on Both Kansas Rivals
10/9/2024 4:39 PM | Soccer
Nakada and team challenge Wildcats on Thursday and face Jayhawks Sunday
SALT LAKE CITY - University of Utah women's soccer program spent last week at Arizona State, and though they sacrificed their run of back-to-back shutouts, they emerged with a 4-1 win over the Sun Devils, which is propelling them in to take on the Kansas State Wildcats on Thursday night in Buser Family Park and then head to the Kansas Jayhawks for a Sunday afternoon face off in Lawrence, Kan.
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Watching the Wildcats
K-State head coach Mike Dibbini is entering his ninth season with Kansas State after opening with the Wildcats for their debut season as a program in 2016. This is the first time Utah and Kansas State will meet. On Sunday, the K-State squad tied with Iowa State 0-0 in Ames, Iowa. This result followed a tie 1-1 tie with UCF in Manhattan, Kan., where the Wildcats outshot their opponents, 20-11. Adah Anderson earned the tie for K-State with her first goal of the season.
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Dibbini's crew's efforts put them at a 3-7-3 record with 0-4-2 in Big 12 competition. Ryann Reynolds currently leads the team in scoring with four goals this season, which puts her at the top of their charts with a total of nine points. Reynolds is collecting shots as well, head of the Wildcats with 25, 15 of which are on goal. Following close behind is Riley Baker with 19 shots, 7 on target.
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Scouting the Jayhawks       Â
Kansas is lead by Nate Lie, who is in his first season with the program, but moved in from Xavier, where he held an 82-37-19 record. Kansas just hosted Oklahoma State on Saturday and got shutout by Cowgirls's defense, ending the game in a 3-0 loss. This was their second straight shutout after visiting then #16 Colorado on Sept. 29 and falling 1-0.
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Jillian Gregorski currently sits at the top of the scoring post for the Jayhawks bringing in five goals and is currently tied for points at 11 with Lexi Watts. Watts has brought in four goals and three helpers, sitting just about Saige Wimes with four goals and two assists.
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This matchup will make a fourth matchup for the two programs, with Utah owning a 2-1 advantage. The last visit between Kansas and Utah was in 2018 in Lawrence, Kan. and ended in a 2-1 win for the Jayhawks in double overtime. On Sunday, Utah will be attempting to earn a win in Lawrence for the first time.
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Sun Devils Fall
Utah visited ASU for a road conference game, defeating the Sun Devils on their home pitch 4-1 on Oct. 4. Goals from Kaufusi, O'Kane, Blum and Callaway contributed to the Ute's second Big 12 win, first Big 12 win on the road. Four goals is twice as many as ASU had allowed in any match in 2024 before Friday, and it's the highest total they've allowed at home since a 4-3 defeat against UCLA in 2021.
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Re-Joyce for Callaway
After tallying an assist and her first career goal against Arizona State, Katie Callaway, often referred to as "Joyce" by her teammates, was named Big 12 Freshman Player of the Week. Callaway is the third Ute to receive a conference weekly award and second to be named Freshman of the Week this season.
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Sometimes You Just Need a Lil Help
Lilliah Blum contributed two assists during the match against Arizona State, one to Kaufusi and one to Callaway, marking it the second match this season that Blum has assisted in two goals on the pitch. She first accomplished this feat on Sept. 1st against Weber State and is the first Ute to tally multiple games with multiple helpers since Jenny Hutton in 2013.
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Taliana is at the Top
Taliana Kaufusi's ten goals currently have her alone atop the Big 12 leaderboard, one more than TCY"s Seven Castain, two more than UCF's Chloe Netzel, and tied for eleventh in the nation. Kaufusi's ten scores have also boosted her career total in that statistic to 27, becoming the sole fifth-most all-time in program history. This puts her just behind Shauna Gurr-Bingham, Class of 2002, who tallied 30 in her four years.
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We Aim to Assist
So far in 2024, 15 different Utes have at least one assist to their credit. That's the highest total in a season for the Utes since 2009, when they had 14 players tally an assist.
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Early Birds
In five of the matches this season, the Utes got on the board within the first 10 minutes. Taliana Kaufusi accomplished this feat against Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, LSU and ASU, while Katie O'Kane added a 10th minute goal against Weber State.
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Wardle the Warrior
Kasey Wardle was in goal for both of Utah's home shutouts against Iowa State and Oklahoma State, the second time in her career she's recorded consecutive clean sheets. In 2022, she logged three-in-a-row in October, blanking Oregon State, Arizona State and USC. Wardle now has nine shutouts in her Utah career. Wardle and fellow keeper Erin Gibbs have crafted a goals against average of 1.08, which would be Utah's lowest for a full season since 2018.
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Downing the Wildcats
Utah defeated the University of Arizona Wildcats in the schools' Big 12 season opener, 1-0 on Sept. 12 at Ute Field. The last time the Utes met with the Wildcats was on Oct. 29 in Arizona for a Pac-12 conference matchup and Utah fell 1-0 after hitting an own goal.
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Tali the Mad Hatter
Taliana Kaufusi recorded her second hat trick of the campaign eight games after the Utes beat Idaho State, 4-1 on Sept. 15. Her first hat trick this season came against Weber State on Sept. 1. Kaufusi is the first Ute to accomplish this feat in 28 years. The first Ute to claim this was Jackie Doman in the 1996 season. Her second hat trick netted her the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Week award.
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Hats Off
On Sept. 1 against Weber State, for the first time on record in program history, two Utes tallied hat tricks in the same match. Both Katie O'Kane and Taliana Kaufusi booted in three goals in a 7-1 rout of the Wildcats. For O'Kane, this marked her second collegiate hat trick, the first coming on Oct. 1, 2023 at Oregon, while it was the first for Kaufusi.
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If She Could, She Wood
In the ninetieth minute of Utah's season opener, freshman midfielder Bella Woods earned a free kick off a handball from Gonzaga. With pressure to take the lead of the tied game, Woods's shot curled around the Bulldogs' defenders and into the back of the net, earning the win for the Utes.
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Bella Brings Home the Hardware
After her game-winning score against Gonzaga, Woods was recognized as the first Big 12 Freshman of the Week in 2024. She's the first Ute to earn a conference weekly award since Katie O'Kane in Oct. of 2023.
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2024 Utah Women's Soccer Roster
Coach Hideki Nakada has assembled a squad that consists of 13 returners and 12 newcomers. The list of players back in Utah Red include 2023 leading scorer Katie O'Kane and Taliana Kaufusi, who topped the team in goals in 2022. Brooklyn Blaylock and 2023 assists leader Kelly Bullock have also returned after starting all 20 matches a season ago, as has Kasey Wardle, who finished as one of the conference leaders in saves as a sophomore.
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Among the many new Utes on Nakada's roster are true freshmen Callie Blaylock, Londyn Lovell, Mia Paugh, Siena Zunino, Katie Callaway and Bella Ganiere. The Utah staff also added six transfers, including sophomore Landen Matthews, junior Erin Gibbs, senior Devi Dudley and graduate students Grace Watkins, Rachel Bastone and Ava Hetzel.
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NCAA Appearances
The Utes are heading into 2024 aiming for their ninth NCAA Tournament berth and their first since 2019. Utah's best showing the national postseason occurred in 2016, when victories over Texas Tech and Florida State propelled them to the Sweet 16.
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New Conference, Same Utes
The 2024 campaign will be Utah's first as members of the Big 12, the fourth different conference the Utes have competed in since the program's inception as members of the WAC in 1995. Utah posted a 7-8-2 mark during that initial season, then went 13-7 in 1999 when they played in the Mountain West Conference for the first time. Their first foray into Pac-12 play was in 2011, when they finished 10-9-1.
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The list of new league foes the Utes will have to contend with include a Texas Tech team that won the conference's regular season title, then reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament, as well as a BYU squad that reached the College Cup for the second time in three seasons. Utah will also be taking the field against Iowa State and Kansas State for the first time in program history.
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New Year, New Staff
In addition to the new faces on the field for the Utes, coach Hideki Nakada also added two new coaches to his staff.
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Assistant coach Travis Smith officially came on board in January after three seasons at Kansas, where he helped the Jayhawks rack up 20 victories, including wins over squads ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation. Smith also spent time at Brandeis High School, where his pupils included three all-state and seven all-region selections. He helped the squad to a district title in 2018 and, two years later, the Broncos finished the season ranked at No. 9 in the state.
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Fellow assistant Jackie Poortinga was hired in May after a busy last several years that included functioning as Phoenix Rising's Director of Goalkeeping, a position she's held since 2021. Her
responsibilities there included overseeing the development of the organization's goalkeepers, developing and implementing the team's goalkeeper training curriculum and identifying talent for the purposes of improving the roster. She also functioned as an Assistant Goalkeeper Coach for the Phoenix Rising FC Men's USL Championship team.
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Tickets
Tickets can be purchased by visiting utahtickets.com/soccer/. All ticket sales are cashless and all tickets are digital, including MUSS Tickets. Pre-purchasing tickets will allow fans to obtain the best price. Those on the Utah player pass list will have their tickets added to their account associated with the email provided by the student-athletes.
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To ensure a successful experience with digital ticketing, fans are encouraged to download their tickets to the wallet on their smartphone for presentation upon arrival at the stadium gates to expedite the entry process. Ticket sales and customer service will be available at the ticket office near the main entrance.
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Next Up
After their tour of Kansas, the Utes make their way back to their home pitch to celebrate their seniors and take on Houston on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. at Ute Field.
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Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UtahWSoccer | Instagram: @UtahWSoccer | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utahwsoccer), and the official mobile app of Utah Athletics, Utah360 -- download here.
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| THURSDAY'S MATCHUP Date | Time:Â Thursday, Oct. 10 | 6:00 p.m. Utah (5-4-4) vs. Kansas State (3-7-3) Location:Â Manhattan, Kan. | Buser Family Park Live Stats:Â Click Here TV: ESPN+ Click Here Twitter Updates:Â @UtahWSoccer |
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Watching the Wildcats
K-State head coach Mike Dibbini is entering his ninth season with Kansas State after opening with the Wildcats for their debut season as a program in 2016. This is the first time Utah and Kansas State will meet. On Sunday, the K-State squad tied with Iowa State 0-0 in Ames, Iowa. This result followed a tie 1-1 tie with UCF in Manhattan, Kan., where the Wildcats outshot their opponents, 20-11. Adah Anderson earned the tie for K-State with her first goal of the season.
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Dibbini's crew's efforts put them at a 3-7-3 record with 0-4-2 in Big 12 competition. Ryann Reynolds currently leads the team in scoring with four goals this season, which puts her at the top of their charts with a total of nine points. Reynolds is collecting shots as well, head of the Wildcats with 25, 15 of which are on goal. Following close behind is Riley Baker with 19 shots, 7 on target.
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Scouting the Jayhawks       Â
Kansas is lead by Nate Lie, who is in his first season with the program, but moved in from Xavier, where he held an 82-37-19 record. Kansas just hosted Oklahoma State on Saturday and got shutout by Cowgirls's defense, ending the game in a 3-0 loss. This was their second straight shutout after visiting then #16 Colorado on Sept. 29 and falling 1-0.
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Jillian Gregorski currently sits at the top of the scoring post for the Jayhawks bringing in five goals and is currently tied for points at 11 with Lexi Watts. Watts has brought in four goals and three helpers, sitting just about Saige Wimes with four goals and two assists.
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This matchup will make a fourth matchup for the two programs, with Utah owning a 2-1 advantage. The last visit between Kansas and Utah was in 2018 in Lawrence, Kan. and ended in a 2-1 win for the Jayhawks in double overtime. On Sunday, Utah will be attempting to earn a win in Lawrence for the first time.
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Sun Devils Fall
Utah visited ASU for a road conference game, defeating the Sun Devils on their home pitch 4-1 on Oct. 4. Goals from Kaufusi, O'Kane, Blum and Callaway contributed to the Ute's second Big 12 win, first Big 12 win on the road. Four goals is twice as many as ASU had allowed in any match in 2024 before Friday, and it's the highest total they've allowed at home since a 4-3 defeat against UCLA in 2021.
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Re-Joyce for Callaway
After tallying an assist and her first career goal against Arizona State, Katie Callaway, often referred to as "Joyce" by her teammates, was named Big 12 Freshman Player of the Week. Callaway is the third Ute to receive a conference weekly award and second to be named Freshman of the Week this season.
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Sometimes You Just Need a Lil Help
Lilliah Blum contributed two assists during the match against Arizona State, one to Kaufusi and one to Callaway, marking it the second match this season that Blum has assisted in two goals on the pitch. She first accomplished this feat on Sept. 1st against Weber State and is the first Ute to tally multiple games with multiple helpers since Jenny Hutton in 2013.
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Taliana is at the Top
Taliana Kaufusi's ten goals currently have her alone atop the Big 12 leaderboard, one more than TCY"s Seven Castain, two more than UCF's Chloe Netzel, and tied for eleventh in the nation. Kaufusi's ten scores have also boosted her career total in that statistic to 27, becoming the sole fifth-most all-time in program history. This puts her just behind Shauna Gurr-Bingham, Class of 2002, who tallied 30 in her four years.
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We Aim to Assist
So far in 2024, 15 different Utes have at least one assist to their credit. That's the highest total in a season for the Utes since 2009, when they had 14 players tally an assist.
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Early Birds
In five of the matches this season, the Utes got on the board within the first 10 minutes. Taliana Kaufusi accomplished this feat against Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, LSU and ASU, while Katie O'Kane added a 10th minute goal against Weber State.
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Wardle the Warrior
Kasey Wardle was in goal for both of Utah's home shutouts against Iowa State and Oklahoma State, the second time in her career she's recorded consecutive clean sheets. In 2022, she logged three-in-a-row in October, blanking Oregon State, Arizona State and USC. Wardle now has nine shutouts in her Utah career. Wardle and fellow keeper Erin Gibbs have crafted a goals against average of 1.08, which would be Utah's lowest for a full season since 2018.
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Downing the Wildcats
Utah defeated the University of Arizona Wildcats in the schools' Big 12 season opener, 1-0 on Sept. 12 at Ute Field. The last time the Utes met with the Wildcats was on Oct. 29 in Arizona for a Pac-12 conference matchup and Utah fell 1-0 after hitting an own goal.
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Tali the Mad Hatter
Taliana Kaufusi recorded her second hat trick of the campaign eight games after the Utes beat Idaho State, 4-1 on Sept. 15. Her first hat trick this season came against Weber State on Sept. 1. Kaufusi is the first Ute to accomplish this feat in 28 years. The first Ute to claim this was Jackie Doman in the 1996 season. Her second hat trick netted her the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Week award.
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Hats Off
On Sept. 1 against Weber State, for the first time on record in program history, two Utes tallied hat tricks in the same match. Both Katie O'Kane and Taliana Kaufusi booted in three goals in a 7-1 rout of the Wildcats. For O'Kane, this marked her second collegiate hat trick, the first coming on Oct. 1, 2023 at Oregon, while it was the first for Kaufusi.
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If She Could, She Wood
In the ninetieth minute of Utah's season opener, freshman midfielder Bella Woods earned a free kick off a handball from Gonzaga. With pressure to take the lead of the tied game, Woods's shot curled around the Bulldogs' defenders and into the back of the net, earning the win for the Utes.
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Bella Brings Home the Hardware
After her game-winning score against Gonzaga, Woods was recognized as the first Big 12 Freshman of the Week in 2024. She's the first Ute to earn a conference weekly award since Katie O'Kane in Oct. of 2023.
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2024 Utah Women's Soccer Roster
Coach Hideki Nakada has assembled a squad that consists of 13 returners and 12 newcomers. The list of players back in Utah Red include 2023 leading scorer Katie O'Kane and Taliana Kaufusi, who topped the team in goals in 2022. Brooklyn Blaylock and 2023 assists leader Kelly Bullock have also returned after starting all 20 matches a season ago, as has Kasey Wardle, who finished as one of the conference leaders in saves as a sophomore.
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Among the many new Utes on Nakada's roster are true freshmen Callie Blaylock, Londyn Lovell, Mia Paugh, Siena Zunino, Katie Callaway and Bella Ganiere. The Utah staff also added six transfers, including sophomore Landen Matthews, junior Erin Gibbs, senior Devi Dudley and graduate students Grace Watkins, Rachel Bastone and Ava Hetzel.
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NCAA Appearances
The Utes are heading into 2024 aiming for their ninth NCAA Tournament berth and their first since 2019. Utah's best showing the national postseason occurred in 2016, when victories over Texas Tech and Florida State propelled them to the Sweet 16.
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New Conference, Same Utes
The 2024 campaign will be Utah's first as members of the Big 12, the fourth different conference the Utes have competed in since the program's inception as members of the WAC in 1995. Utah posted a 7-8-2 mark during that initial season, then went 13-7 in 1999 when they played in the Mountain West Conference for the first time. Their first foray into Pac-12 play was in 2011, when they finished 10-9-1.
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The list of new league foes the Utes will have to contend with include a Texas Tech team that won the conference's regular season title, then reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament, as well as a BYU squad that reached the College Cup for the second time in three seasons. Utah will also be taking the field against Iowa State and Kansas State for the first time in program history.
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New Year, New Staff
In addition to the new faces on the field for the Utes, coach Hideki Nakada also added two new coaches to his staff.
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Assistant coach Travis Smith officially came on board in January after three seasons at Kansas, where he helped the Jayhawks rack up 20 victories, including wins over squads ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation. Smith also spent time at Brandeis High School, where his pupils included three all-state and seven all-region selections. He helped the squad to a district title in 2018 and, two years later, the Broncos finished the season ranked at No. 9 in the state.
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Fellow assistant Jackie Poortinga was hired in May after a busy last several years that included functioning as Phoenix Rising's Director of Goalkeeping, a position she's held since 2021. Her
responsibilities there included overseeing the development of the organization's goalkeepers, developing and implementing the team's goalkeeper training curriculum and identifying talent for the purposes of improving the roster. She also functioned as an Assistant Goalkeeper Coach for the Phoenix Rising FC Men's USL Championship team.
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Tickets
Tickets can be purchased by visiting utahtickets.com/soccer/. All ticket sales are cashless and all tickets are digital, including MUSS Tickets. Pre-purchasing tickets will allow fans to obtain the best price. Those on the Utah player pass list will have their tickets added to their account associated with the email provided by the student-athletes.
Â
To ensure a successful experience with digital ticketing, fans are encouraged to download their tickets to the wallet on their smartphone for presentation upon arrival at the stadium gates to expedite the entry process. Ticket sales and customer service will be available at the ticket office near the main entrance.
Â
Next Up
After their tour of Kansas, the Utes make their way back to their home pitch to celebrate their seniors and take on Houston on Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. at Ute Field.
Â
Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UtahWSoccer | Instagram: @UtahWSoccer | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utahwsoccer), and the official mobile app of Utah Athletics, Utah360 -- download here.
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Players Mentioned
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Forward
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Midfielder
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Midfielder
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DEF
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GK
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DEF
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Forward
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MID
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FOR
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Forward
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Goalkeeper
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MID
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MID
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DEF
/ SoccerCrimson Corner with Bill Riley - Urban Meyer
Wednesday, September 17
Utah 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