SALT LAKE CITY - Lilliah Blum recorded yet another goal and
Rylan Park scored for the first time in her collegiate career to help propel the University of Utah women's soccer team past the N.C State Wolfpack by a score of 3-0 on Sunday night at Ute Field in Salt Lake City.
With five matches in the books, Utah's record stands at 3-1-1.
"That was a great team performance tonight," said coach
Hideki Nakada. "We wanted to capitalize on our early chances and Lilliah gave us the perfect start with a fantastic goal. I felt we were unfortunate not to be up by more at halftime, but I'm proud of how our group stayed composed and finished the game strong.
"
Ali Swensen scored a great goal off a perfectly placed ball from
Bella Woods and
Rylan Park, who was outstanding defensively in the midfield all night, was rewarded with a wonderful strike from distance. I'm also very proud of Erin in goal and our entire back line for earning the shutout.
Almost immediately after the opening whistle, the Utes started probing N.C. State's back line. Shots from Swensen and
Grace Watkins nearly got Utah on the board in the opening minutes, but Blum found the back of the net at the 9:46 mark.
Off a goal kick, a header from Watkins sent Bullock in on goal and her pass set up Blum for a left-footed effort that bounced in off the post. This was Blum's third straight match with a goal, making her the first Ute to score in three straight fixtures since Ireland Dunn in 2019.
That lead held into halftime and the two sides spent much of the final period searching for a way to create offense and a foul just outside of the box set up a Utah opportunity in the 73rd minute. Woods sent in a perfectly placed cross and Swensen redirected it into the net for her first Utah goal and a 2-0 edge. Swensen's four points for the season, a total matched by two of her teammates, only trail Blum for tops on the squad.
The coup de grâce for the evening was applied by Park in the 78th minute. The sophomore from California found herself with the ball 10 yards outside the 18 after a cross was cleared out. With time and space, she fired a right-footed missile past the diving keeper for Utah's final mark on the scoresheet. Park is the third different Ute to log her first collegiate goal this season, joining
Julia Oka and
Shannon Davidson.
N.C. State never had much of a chance to start a comeback, as Utah's defenders kept the Wolfpack at bay for most of the evening. That, combined with
Erin Gibbs stopping the visitors' only shot on goal of the contest, resulted in the Utes' second clean sheet of the year.
"We will celebrate this win tonight," said Nakada, "and will get ready for a tough match against undefeated Washington starting tomorrow."
Next Up
A trip to Seattle is next on the docket for the Utes, who will visit the Washington Huskies on Thursday.
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