Holiday Check List

Are you getting tired of the holidays...?

Is the thrill of being away from work or school wearing off...?

Are you looking for things to do beside checking in to your favorite blog...?

The end of the year is a great time to make lists. Here is one that might inspire some things you can do in 2009 in regards to your soccer...

Here is our Top Ten List of Soccer Things to Do in 2009

1. Get in shape...conditioning, strength, balance, speed, flexibility are all things to improve upon.
2. Spend time with the soccer ball...touches and skills are critical.
3. Pick out a glaring weakness in your game and make it better.
4. Find more opportunities to play in pick up games...even organize them!
2 vs. 2, 3 vs. 3, anything...get some of your friends together and PLAY!
5. Get together some of your old soccer clothing, shoes and equipment and donate it to someone else...
DI store, Salvation Army, St. Vincent de Paul Society, your local school, if you're unsure send it to us here at the U. We'll send it along to a group that could use it...Send it to Utah Women's Soccer, 1825 East South Campus Dr. Front, Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0900

6. Teach, coach or mentor some local young players in the game...giving back will feel great.
7. Take a moment and write one of your former coaches or teammates and let them know how you are doing and what you learned from your experience with them. They will love to hear from you.
8. Watch a game live, on TV, on the web...you can always learn.
9. Say thanks to mom, dad or anyone else that supports (or supported) you in your soccer.
10. Resolve to get good grades, be a good teammate, play with character, take on some leadership, teams need complete players!

Keep dreaming big!

Merry Christmas to All!

All the finals are done and the papers have been turned in. The Utes are with their families for the holidays. Everyone is tucked into bed and waiting for Santa to arrive. We've had a couple of days of snow and it is a beautiful white Christmas here in Salt Lake City.

We want to wish you all a fantastic holiday at this special time of the year and let's make 2009 the best year yet! We'll be back at the blog soon to give you more insight into Ute soccer!

Finals Week is Here

The players are busy this week...not shopping...not playing...but studying and preparing papers.
Finals week is here...exams and projects are due. The hard work is eased by the "light at the end of the tunnel"....Christmas is right around the corner!

We'll have more thoughts on Utah Soccer Christmas plans.

But, we will tell you that the University of Utah is a sports school...and there is a LOT of great stuff going on right now...

Our football team got selected to go to the Sugar Bowl, where they will meet the University of Alabama on January 2nd. How cool is that?! The soccer team is making plans to go to New Orleans or set up a TV party. We'll definitely have more news about this great event!

Our men's and women's basketball teams are in full season mode...the men will be playing local rival Weber State at the beautiful Hunstman Center on campus here on Saturday at 4:00 PM local time...then they will travel the 2 hours north to face Utah State on Monday at 7:00 PM

The women go Ogden, Utah (about 40 minutes north of the U) to face Weber State on Friday at 6:3o PM, then turn around and host Mississippi State on Saturday at 6:30 PM.

Our players will be ready to support their fellow Utes!

The big soccer Christmas sale!

University of Utah soccer is having a Christmas sale to sell its remaining merchandise!

We have a limited number of items so please contact Jill at JGillman@huntsman.utah.edu for more information or if you'd like to place an order.

Gray Utah Soccer shirt: $10

Gray Utah Soccer Est. 1995 shirt: $10

White Utah Soccer shirt: $10

Cinch sack: $20

Utah Soccer lanyards: $2

Utah visors: $7

Black Under Armour hooded sweatshirt: $45

Another Big Soccer Week

Okay, fans of women's soccer, there are some tremendous games being played this week...Be sure to make some time and see some of the world's best female soccer players in action...

First, the U.S. under-20 National Team is in the semi-finals of the World Cup in Chile...they face Germany in a "clash of the titans"! (The other semi-final is Brazil vs. North Korea, another awesome battle).

Thursday
U.S. vs. Germany
Temuco, Chile
3 p.m. MT, ESPNU


Then, the NCAA College Cup takes place this weekend in North Carolina...and all four #1 seeds have made it to the semi-finals...It should be a dramatic weekend...Be sure to watch!

Friday
Stanford vs. Notre Dame
2:30 PM MT, ESPNU, ESPN360
UCLA vs. North Carolina
5:00 PM MT, ESPNU, ESPN360

Sunday
NCAA College Cup Final
12:00 PM MT, ESPN2, ESPN360

Utes Celebrating Big Football Victory

Last Saturday was an exciting day for the Utes. The Utah football team capped off an undefeated season by defeating rvial BYU, 48-24, in front of a packed house of 46,000 fans. With the victory, the Utes clinched the Mountain West Conference Championship and qualified for the "BCS" bowl series. They will be headed to Miami (Orange Bowl), New Orleans (Sugar Bowl) or Phoenix (Fiesta Bowl) come the New Year. Their destination will be announced on December 7.










Many of the Utah soccer players attended the game. When questioned, many even admitted to "storming" the field after the game to celebrate with the football team...attending the other sporting events and supporting their friends on the other teams is an important part of the experience for our soccer players. With so much excitement going on, it is bound to increase everyone's appetite....good thing Thanksgiving is here...lots of home cookin' this weekend. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Great Soccer Viewing for U.S. Fans this week

For those of you that love soccer...and especially soccer here in the good ol' U.S.A....this is a great week. First, we have the under-20 Women's World Cup starting in Chile tomorrow. Both the U.S. and the Canadian teams are made up of current and future college stars. Many of the players there have sacrificed being with their college teams during the NCAA playoffs in order to have a shot at the world title. The U.S. team's games will be shown at ESPN...tomorrow is on ESPN2. The others will be on ESPN360.com (an internet broadcast service). Here is the 1st round schedule.

Wednesday
U.S. vs. France
Estadio Nelson Oyarzun, Chillan, Chile
11 a.m. MT, ESPN2, ESPN360.com

Nov. 22
U.S. vs. Argentina
Estadio Nelson Oyarzun, Chillan, Chile
8 a.m. MT, ESPN360.com

Nov. 26
U.S. vs. China
Estadio German Becker, Temuco, Chile
12 p.m. MT, ESPN360.com

You can follow the tournament and see highlights of the matches at www.fifa.com!


Second....the U.S. men's national team has a 2010 World Cup qualifier on Wednesday night against Guatemala in Colorado. The U.S. has already advanced to the final round as it as won the 4-team group....However, Guatemala is in a dogfight with Trinidad & Tobago and must win to stay alive for the second place....Fans of the younger U.S. players, such as Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore, will be able to see how they do in an intense environment.

U.S. vs. Guatemala
Wednesday
Dick's Sporting Goods Park; Commerce City, Colo.
8 p.m. ET, ESPN Classic


Third...yes, there is more....the MLS Cup will be held in Los Angeles this Sunday. The Columbus Crew will face the NY Red Bulls for the championship. Watch Argentinian superstar, Guillermo Barros-Schelotto, formerly of Boca Juniors try to lead Columbus to its first crown!

Sunday
New York vs. Columbus
Home Depot Center, Carson, Calif. 3:30 p.m. ET, ABC


Okay soccer fans...enjoy the feast!

NCAA Bracket

The NCAA tournament field, 64 teams strong, was announced last night. Some interesting match ups all around...BYU, our Mountain West Conference rival, gets to host this week. They will face Virginia Tech on Thursday. The other game in Provo will be defending champion USC against Boston University. Maybe the toughest opening weekend group is happening over at Notre Dame...The Irish play Toledo while Michigan State faces Wisconsin Milwaukee.

Click here for an interactive bracket!

NCAA Selections Revealed Today

The Utes won't be going "dancing" this year. We probably fell about 2 or 3 wins short of an at large bid to the NCAA tournament. Many of the teams we played this year will be in the tournament....Wake Forest, Long Beach State, Washington, BYU are definitely in and UNC Greensboro, Georgia and TCU have a shot to be invited.

The tournament brackets will be revealed this evening on ESPNews between 6:00 and 6:30 PM Mountain Time.

The NCAA women' s soccer tournament is a 64-team bracket. Teams are grouped in "pods" of 4 for the first weekend. So there will be 16 hosts beginning this weekend...

This will be the first year that two teams from the same conference won't be matched up against each other until the 3rd round. Hopefully, that will help mix up the matchups a bit.

Check it out this evening...

Utes Fall in MWC Tournament Final

It all seems to end so fast!...

We lost a tight, 1-0 battle to BYU in the Mountain West Conference tournament final today here in Las Vegas. We competed with great heart and gave it our best shot. We had beaten TCU on Thursday in the semi-final, 2-1 in overtime in another extremely tight game.

We will fall 2 or 3 wins short of an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament. However, we finished our season as a much improved team...going 7-2 in our last 9 games and 10-4-2 after a 1-5 start. More importantly, we grew as a team...playing with confidence and believing in ourselves.

We will head back to Salt Lake tonight and catch up on some school work.
Then we will re-group and talk about our plans here after the season. The players will have classes until about Dec. 10 then have a month-long break before starting up again in January.

Thanks to everyone for your support this year. We'll have more "stuff" from this past week as well as some great material from the players. Stay tuned!

MWC Tournament starts with Banquet

The Utah Soccer Team poses for a team photo after the MWC Awards Banquet in Las Vegas, Nevada on Tuesday evening.













After some travel issues, we arrived in Las Vegas in time to go straight to the hotel and get changed for the MWC Awards Banquet. On the menu was chicken and steak, potatoes, green beans, salad and bread. Strawberry crepes for dessert....good stuff!

When the awards were announced, four Utes were honored....

Sophomore Lauren Hair and freshman Lauren Porter were selected to the 2nd all-MWC team.
And senior Katy Reineke and junior Kelly Isleib were chosen on the 1st team. Congratulations.

Tomorrow will be lunch and then head to the field to watch a bit of the TCU-San Diego State game...then a training session in preparation of Thursday's match...Stay tuned for more...


Sophomore Morgan Skeen and sophomore Alyssa Toomey "lower themselves" to allow freshman Lauren Porter into the picture with them at the Mountain West Conference Awards Banquet.


















Addie Hair, Lauren Hair and Hannah Turpen prepare for dinner at the MWC Banquet.













Sports Information Director Mike DeVine, Head Coach Rich Manning and Assistant Coach Ryan Robinson were disappointed not to have ice cream for dessert but were able to put on happy faces for the camera.

Mountain West Conference Tournament is Here!

The Utes had the final practice at Ute Field today for this week...as we will travel tomorrow to Las Vegas to take part in the MWC tournament....6 teams...1 trophy and the winner gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament...Exciting!

You may already know about our 2-1 win over the Air Force Academy last Friday. With the victory, we clinched the 2nd seed in the tournament. Check out the story by clicking here!

Tuesday is a busy day. Because we traveled to Colorado last week. The players had to do some catching up on school. We will be missing classes the rest of the week. So some students are busy taking some tests and getting some projects in. We will fly to Las Vegas (about a 1 hour flight) at 1 PM Mountain time. We will go straight to UNLV for a short practice...then get to the hotel to quickly change and get ready for the big banquet with the other teams.

On Wednesday, we will watch the TCU - San Diego State game at 12 Noon...as we play the winner. Then we will train at 3 PM to get ready! Our first game will be on Thursday at 12 Noon. The game will be aired live on TV on the mtn. channel. There will also be live stats and other information available at the Mountain West Conference tournament web site...click here!

Here is the basic schedule (Pacific times):

Wednesday
12 PM TCU vs. SDSU
3:00 PM UNLV vs. New Mexico

Thursday
12 PM Utah vs. TCU/SDSU winner
3:00 PM BYU vs. UNLV/New Mexico winner

Saturday
12 PM Final


We will be updating here as well. Looking forward to a great week! Go Utes!

Kick or Treat...more from the Utes' Costume Blast

One of our favorite shooting games is a little thing we like to call "Compo"...Ever get scored on by a headless forward?...ever have Scooby Doo make a "paw" save on you? ...who'd have thought that
Bill and Hillary Clinton would be such skillful players? Check it out!

Halloween Tradition Continues...

Mountain West Conference play is heating up...MWC tournament is close at hand...midterms and projects are piling up...how to release the pressure a bit and have some fun? Well, it has been a tradition here at Utah soccer to use the Halloween holiday to lighten up...dress up and laugh a bit.
Since we are traveling to Colorado tonight, we had our fun a day early this year. Check out the photos...Photographers and reporters were on hand from Channel 2, Channel 4, Channel 5, Channel 13, the Deseret News, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Daily Utah Chronicle....so keep an
eye out! Here is a link to Channel 5, KSL... look for video later today from them. (Find the "icast portion of the page).We'll have video later, but for now...here are some pictures!


Nicole Cardon is our resident pirate! Johnny
Depp has nothing on her!

















Anne Shallenberger is Scooby Doo!










Kellie Woodfield - anyone for dinner? Emalee Rogers has really lost her head!


















Alyssa Toomey and Erin Dalley...do we need to say anything more?
Christine Quinn is interviewed by Tom Kirkland of KSL TV.

















Dressed as our trainers?!!
Hannah Turpen does her best Lauren Lattimer...Lauren Porter is a dead ringer for Morgan Collins...and coach Leslie Keener is...well an (extremely) injured soccer player.

Thursday is a BIG day for Ute soccer

Time for a little mystery...
Tomorrow will be a huge day for the Utes. We will be traveling to Colorado in the afternoon to get ready for our big game with the Air Force Academy. However, before we depart for the airport, we will have a light jog and kick around.

Most importantly, we will celebrate one of the most important days of the year for our program. We have a LONG tradition...dating way back to the beginning of the program. Think about what time of year it is...

We promise pictures and video...but you may want to check the local news stations in the Salt Lake City area tomorrow evening...Stay tuned! Can you stand the suspense?

Mountain West Conference Race Update, Part 2

Coming down to the wire...lots to play for still...with just one game left, here are the MWC standings:

1. BYU 6 0 0 18
   
2. Utah 4 2 0 12
3. TCU 3 2 1 10
4. UNLV 3 2 1 10
5. SDSU 2 3 1 7
6. UNM 2 3 1 7
7. Wyo 2 4 0 6
8. USAFA 0 6 0 0

BYU has clinched 1st place and a bye. The Utes can clinch 2nd and the other bye with a win over Air Force on Friday evening. However, spots 3 through 6 are definitely up for grabs!

Here is the schedule for the weekend:

Friday
Utah at Air Force
TCU at San Diego State
New Mexico at UNLV

Saturday
BYU at Wyoming

Utes take in 'Forever Strong'

Monday practice???? Not today...after a hard-fought weekend and two victories...the Utes went to the movies together this afternoon. The team watch "Forever Strong", a piece about a high school rugby team and its quest for the national championship. The film is based upon the boys' rugby team from Highland High School here in Salt Lake City. Highland's rugby team has won several national championships and is coached by local legend, Larry Gelwix.

Check out this nice piece on Coach Gelwix here.

Highland High School is located just two miles from the U campus. Goalkeeper Amy Edman attended Highland and the show brought back memories for Amy. The movie was inspirational, for sure...don't know if the Utes will be doing the Haka before the next few games...but there are great lessons for any team.

For more information on the movie, click here!

Senior Day Provides Great Moments and Thrills

Well, we were enjoying Senior Day so much that we decided to drag it out as long as possible. After 109 minutes, Lauren Hair got one past the Wyoming goal keeper and we squeaked out a 1-0 win.

The weather was beautiful, the soccer was highly spirited and competitive, the drama was great...it was a fantastic day all around. Wyoming was a very formidable opponent. We hung in there and started playing better as the game progressed. After many chances in the overtime periods, we got one to go in...There was a terrific passing sequence from Danielle Sample to Chelsea Forbes to Kelly Isleib in the attacking part of the field. Isleib hit a one-touch pass in the path of Lauren Hair, who toe-poked it by the charging Cowgirl 'keeper...and we were able to earn the win with the 1:51 left on the clock in the last overtime! Read more about the exciting game here!

Of course it was also our last home game of the season and we honored four fantastic young ladies that have contributed so much over the course of the last few seasons. Here are some photos:


Goal keeper, Amy Edman, with her parents Boyd and Liz.
Amy is from Highland High School, just down the road from the U. She is a nursing major.














Defender Addie Hair with her folks, Scott and Kim. Addie is from Alpine, Utah and Lone Peak High School and is a Mass Communication major.
















Attacker Katy Reineke with Lawrence and Barbara. Katy is from East High School right next to the U's campus. She is an economics major.















Midfielder Amanda Sanchez and her parents, Frank and Debra. Amanda is from St. Francis High School in Sacramento, California. She is an International Studies major.

Senior Day Tomorrow to be on "the Mtn." TV

After a 4-3 win over Seattle University last night (click here for more details), we are preparing for a big Mountain West Conference game with Wyoming. We will celebrate our seniors...Amy Edman, Addie Hair, Katy Reineke, Amanda Sanchez. We also are in a tight race for a good placement in the Mountain West Conference tournament.

Kickoff is at 1:00 P.M. mountain time. The game will be televised on the mtn. network....The mtn. is available nationally on Direct TV channel 616. It is also available on many cable networks throughout the west. Check here for local outlets. If you can't make it out to the game...join us on TV!

Mountain West Conference Race Update

As Seattle University comes to town this evening for a non-conference battle, we have our eyes on the Mountain West Conference standings. With two conference games remaining, there is a lot of positioning going on for the MWC tournament in Las Vegas in two weeks. The top 6 teams in the standings participate in the tournament. The winner gets an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The 1st and 2nd place teams from the regular season get a bye in the first round and get to go straight to the semi-finals. As of today, the standings look as follows:

BYU 5-0
Utah 3-2
TCU 3-2
UNLV 3-2
New Mexico 2-3
SDSU 2-3
Wyoming 2-3
Air Force 0-5

(3 points for a win, 1 for a tie, 0 for a loss)

So, lots to play for still. The Utes have the tiebreaker over UNLV...but not over TCU...we can still earn a bye with a couple of wins and TCU dropping or tying a game...

Power of Pink Poster

A few weeks back, on September 21, in our game against Cal State Fullerton....we promoted Breast Cancer awareness with a "Pink on the Pitch" day. It was a wonderful day of awareness and support.


We had a poster give away and just got a jpg copy of the poster and thought we'd share it with you.
So, here it is...Complete with "U" soccer players Katy Reineke and Morgan Skeen.

Utah athletics will have more events to promote Breast Cancer Awareness...come and join us at the following:

Volleyball "Pack the House Pink" on November 2nd

Gymnastics "Power of Pink " on January 23rd

Women's Basketball "Pink Zone" February 8th

Softball "Power of Pink" April 18th

You can go to www.utahutes.com for more information.

Seattle U. Comes to Town as a New Division 1 Team

The Utes will take a short break from Mountain West Conference play this Friday when we host the Seattle University at 7:00 P.M. at Ute Field. The Mountain West decided this year to have three single game weekends (where we had just one in the past)...so in order to get a good number of games, we have to play some non-conference games on those weekends.

The Redhawks are in their first year of a transition to Division 1 athletics. They have been Division 2 power house in women's soccer and are beginning the process as a university of moving all of their sports up.

So how has it gone so far? Well, they are 8-3-3 with wins over schools such as Fresno State, Boise State, Idaho, San Francisco and Cal State Bakersfield. So we expect a tough match and one that will help keep us sharp for Conference play and the MWC tournament in two weeks.

For more about this Friday's opponent, click here!

Road Trip Ends in Disappointment in Texas

The Utes fell to the Horned Frogs of TCU tonight, 2-0. The loss ended a 3-match winning streak and brought an end to the road trip. TCU played well and deserves credit....it was not our best performance as we didn't play with enough energy and played too much defense. One of our strengths this year has been an ability to keep the ball. Tonight we could not and would not pass the ball to each other enough. So, we will head back home in the morning. Classes start back up Monday after fall break and we'll hit the training ground again to try to improve for next weekend's home matches with Seattle (Friday night) and Wyoming (Sunday afternoon).

For more on the TCU match....click here!

Big Road Win Boosts Spirits

Big win over New Mexico tonight...not big in the score (just a 1-0 win)...but big as in important for our team. We have had trouble with some of our road games in matching the home team's intensity and drive...and we did a much better job of that tonight.

The Lobos are a terrific defensive team. They commit 8 or 9 players to getting behind the ball. Sometimes all of these players are inside of their own penalty box. And they are very physical. Good in the air and tough tacklers. So matching their toughness is critical to beating them. And we were able to do that tonight.

The game was not pretty. But we were very opportunistic. Lauren Porter headed home her 3rd goal of the season in the 31st minute. The play started with a direct free kick from about 30 yards out. Katy Reineke floated a pinpoint ball to Porter's head and she touched it into the net from about 9 yards out.

We held on for a fantastic win. Now it's on to Dallas-Ft. Worth and another big road test against TCU.

Check out more of the story and quotes by clicking here.

Another Road Test

We are heading out today to test ourselves against two very good opponents, New Mexico and TCU. We have traveled to North Carolina, Oregon, Los Angeles, Washington and San Luis Obispo already this year and challenged ourselves by playing top teams in tough environments. And the reason we did that was to prepare for these Mountain West Conference road trips. In these earlier road games, we have had trouble matching the home teams aggressiveness at times. It will be a measure of our progress to see if we can play a very assertive game and take the initiative this weekend.

Both games will be carried with live video streaming on our hosts web sites. Follow along and see how we do:

Thursday, October 16 - Utah at New Mexico - 7:00 P.M. (Mountain Time) kickoff

Follow the action here!

Saturday, October 18 - Utah at TCU - 6:00 P.M. (Mountain Time) kickoff

Follow the action here!

The Art of the PK

We have drawn 4 penalty kicks this season.  Lauren Hair has drawn all 4 of them and there is definitely a skill involved in that.  Dribbling with confidence and physical courage are important factors.  We have had 3 penalty kicks in the last 3 games...one against BYU and two against San Diego State.  Unfortunately, we missed a couple of them...or, to be accurate, they were saved. 

Penalty kicks are not only great scoring chances, but also create tremendous swings of momentum in the game.  With the sound of the whistle alone, the defending team is charged with emotion...they are angry at the referee and concerned about giving up a goal.  The attacking team is already celebrating the fact that they are probably going to score a goal.  Then comes the drama of the actual kick.  Everyone clears out and much like a free throw in basketball, the kicker is left alone.  The crowd goes silent and then, BAM, something dramatic happens....

There are many "theories" out there about PK's.  And some of them contradict each other.  Some folks think that the person fouled should take the PK because they have "earned" the right.  Others say that the person fouled should never take it as they are still "smarting" from the foul and not able to concentrate on the shot.  Some say shoot high...others low...some go for the corners, while others shoot up the middle (which the goalie has vacated while diving).  Some say approach the ball from straight on...others from the side.  We have inside of the foot passers as well as laces shooters.  They all can work and they all can go terribly wrong!

Probably the most important thing is to be confident in your shot and hit is aggressively....then, be ready for a rebound as you never know.  Last Thursday in the game against San Diego State, Kelly Isleib had her PK saved but was alert enough to pounce on the rebound.

This time of year PK's get even more important as in both the Mountain West Conference and NCAA tournaments, a shootout can decide the outcome of a game if it is tied after regulation.  The Utes were fortunate enough to win the 2004 MWC tournament in a shootout against San Diego State...and unlucky to lose in shootouts in the 2003 NCAA tournament first round (to Idaho State) and the 2006 MWC tournament final (to UNLV).  

We'll see what kind of drama awaits for us this year!  It will be tough to match the 2006 NCAA tournament first round game against Idaho State.  Ute midfielder Katy Reineke stepped up to take a PK with just 37 seconds left and made it to tie the score at 2-2.  We eventually won the game in overtime.  We'll be practicing just in case...

Cold Weather and Offense Both Arrive!

We got a dose of cold weather this week, with some rain on Thursday and Friday....more (with a trace of snow) on Saturday...and even a good snow shower here on Sunday morning. The snow arrived about a month earlier than normal. But it seemed to bring with it our own "ray of sunshine" as our offense broke out for the first time this season. We scored 4 goals against San Diego State on Thursday night, breaking a 1-1 tie with three strikes in the last 13 minutes. And yesterday we scored 3 goals in the second half against UNLV to defeat the Rebels, 3-1.

It is always a grind when you are having trouble putting the ball in the net. The attacking players start putting more pressure on themselves. And the defense feels like any mistake they make might cost us the game as we may not be able to equalize. Scoring seven goals in two games will definitely energize our team and bring more confident play.

On Thursday night against the Aztecs, we got a well-constructed goal from Katy Reineke in just the 3rd minute as Danielle Sample and Kelly Isleib made finely feathered passes to set up Katy's shot. We played a terrific first half and were unlucky not to add to our 1-0 lead...we missed a penalty kick among other chances.

We played a lethargic second half and paid for it with 15 minutes left when the Aztecs tied it up. We rebounded after the wake up call...getting a penalty kick goal from Kelly Isleib just 3 minutes later...and then followed it up with Katy Reineke's 2nd of the night and Mallory Mitamura's first college goal. Kelly had a goal and three assists...and Katy got her first goals from the run of play this year (her first goal was a PK against Oregon). Very good confidence builders!

Read more about the San Diego State victory at www.utahutes.com and in the Deseret News.


Yesterday's game with UNLV was another breakout party for the offense. Three quality goals after the half turned around a disappointing end to the first period. We had started the game very well and seemed to falter right as the half came to an end. We gave up a goal with just 15 seconds left in the half...a definite "body blow". Something that could have really affected us psychologically for the second half.

However, we got a goal from Lauren Porter, who headed in a Katy Reineke corner kick, just 2 minutes after the break. That lifted our spirits and positioned us for a great finish. We had a wind at our backs and seemed to pin the Rebels in at times. In the 60th minute, Lauren Hair smashed home a shot into the lower side netting at the far post after taking a nice slip pass from Kelly Isleib. "La La", as she is known, got her first goal of the season at a big moment. After holding the Rebels off for a period of time, Katy got her third goal of the week when she rifled a shot from about 25 yards out over the 'keeper's head for the 3-1 win. A satisfying pair of results and some new life to the offense as we continue Mountain West Conference play next week with a pair of games at New Mexico and at TCU.

Read more about the Utah win over UNLV here.

UNLV Game Time Changed

It seems to be an October so far with great weather during the week and then a random storm on the weekend. And tomorrow looks to be the same. With possible snow coming on Saturday evening, we are moving our game time to 1:00 PM. Here is the official announcement from the Sports Information Department:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 10, 2008

Utah Soccer Home Match Saturday Moved To 1 P.M. Saturday

SALT LAKE CITY – The University of Utah soccer team’s match against UNLV Saturday, Oct. 11, has been moved up to 1 p.m., announced Utah officials Friday. Originally scheduled for 7 p.m., the change was made due to the possibility of inclement weather Saturday evening.

Utah enters the game with a record of 5-7-2, 1-1-0 in the Mountain West Conference, following a 4-1 victory against San Diego State Thursday. UNLV carries a record of 9-4-1, 1-1-0 MWC, and is coming off of a 1-0 loss at BYU.

Hope to see you all there...let's stay dry and warm!

D-News Article about Kelly Isleib

Kelly Isleib is our junior midfielder from Park City, Utah. She runs the show in the midfield. Last season she set a school record with 13 assists...this year she has taken on a more aggressive scoring role and leads the team with 5 goals. You can read more about Kelly and her transition to goal scorer in an article in today's Deseret News (D-News to all of us locals).

Click here to read the article about Kelly Isleib.

Salt Lake City has two major newspapers, the Salt Lake Tribune and the Deseret News. Both follow the Utah Utes sports teams closely. You can keep up with Utes' soccer, football, volleyball (and even basketball as it gets started here) with both of these local papers.

Salt Lake Tribune Sports Section

Deseret News Sports Section

NCAA Releases RPI

The RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) has become an important, and controversial, statistic for all college soccer teams to follow. It was designed to try to measure how tough of a schedule a team is playing. A simple explanation is that it measures your record, your opponents' record and your opponents' opponents record...(try digesting that once or twice!).

The RPI is one of several criteria used by the NCAA tournament committee to select and seed teams. Other criteria would include head-to-head results, common opponents and a team's last 8 results.

The NCAA women's soccer tournament is a 64-team deal. There are 30 conferences that get automatic bids to the "show". And then the committee selects the other 34 "at-large" bids by using the RPI and the other criteria.

All but 3 conferences select their automatic qualifier by a conference tournament. (The Pac-10, Ivy League and West Coast Conference each give their automatic bid to the regular season champion). So the Mountain West Conference representative will be determined at the MWC tournament in Las Vegas in November.

The RPI is pretty controversial as it is almost impossible to compare over 330 teams that haven't all played each other. And soccer only plays 20 games...so for you "math geeks"...you'll know that 20 is a very small sample size to try to use to compare all of these teams. A sport like basketball (30-35 games) or baseball (60-75 games) will have a much more accurate RPI...Nevertheless it is used.

The NCAA released the first RPI yesterday. Now with only 11-13 games per team...it is even less accurate...but it might give you an idea about how some teams are doing. The Utes are at 109...low do to our sub-500 record at this point. Updates will be released every two weeks or so...

See the current RPI by clicking here.
You can also check out the Wikipedia explanation for RPI and see if that helps!

Snowballs in October?

Our conference opener on Saturday night against BYU was certainly a disappointment and could not have gone much worse. Thank you to all the fans that came out and supported us. We did not give people much to cheer about and owe an apology for that. A 5-0 loss is a painful lesson and we will have to show some great character to brush it off and get ready for Thursday's home match against San Diego State. It was a cold and rainy night, but felt more like a snowball had hit upon Ute Field...

Giving up an early goal is always dangerous as it can give great confidence to your opponent and put you on the ropes a bit. BYU scored just six minutes into Saturday's match. Unfortunately, just 3 minutes later, they were given a penalty kick just three minutes later after a collision in the box...now it's 2-0...And the snowball had begun to roll down the mountain...

When goals are scored, these are big moments in the game and it's important to manage these well. With two goals in the first ten minutes, it was an important time to settle down the emotions and stop the snowball from gaining further momentum. And we were unable to do that. A third goal just four mintues after that...

The game settled a bit for the next 20 minutes and we created some good chances, including a penalty kick, that could have brought us back into the game.

Later in the half, two more goals just 92 seconds apart....now the snowball is in full force...
Last weekend we gave up 2 goals against Washington just 42 seconds apart. So, we will definitely have to work on this concept of managing moments after a goal is scored on us...Letting a snowflake turn into a snow ball is not a desirable thing!

We've shown good strength of character this year and will do our best to correct these things for Thursday's match against San Diego State...Ute Field at 7:00 PM.

Helping Out the Monticello Walk-a-thon

Earlier in the year, we had a group of students from the Monticello Academy in Salt Lake City come to our game against Long Beach State. And today we got to return the favor and visit the school as they participated in a walk-a-thon to help raise money for the school. Former Ute Erin (Pruitt) Kay is a 2nd grade teacher at the academy and arranged the outing. Here is Erin, joining in with the jumping jacks.




So we had a group of us out leading the students in some warm-up exercises...Lauren Dudley, Lauren Porter, Danielle Sample, Katy Reineke, Anne Shallenberger, Erin Dalley, Katie Martinez, Lauren Hair, Hannah Turpen and Morgan Skeen helped out with some jumping jacks, star jumps, high knees, stretches and other exercises....We led a group of 4-6 graders...then came the K -3 group....very fun and very excited about the day. Grizby, the mascot for the Utah Grizzlies hockey team was there.... After warming up, the students went for their walk and came back to some water, fruit and other treats. Then we set up some informal soccer games. Overall, a fun time and a great way to connect with young people in the community. Check out the little ones getting ready!

Ute Alums to Be Honored at Half-time of BYU Game

Saturday's BYU game will also mark the honoring of our Utah soccer alums. All former players in attendance will be introduced at half-time of the game. We are very proud of our former players who have become professionals, teachers, nurses, doctors, coaches, engineers, role models, moms and more!

Two former players will be honored for being named to the all-Mountain West Conference 10-year anniversary team.


Amy Kofoed Stover was a standout Ute attacking player from 1998 to 2001. She is the all-time leading scorer as well with 46 career goals and 108 career points (46 goals count as 2 points each and 16 assists for 1 point each). Amy had a stint in the WUSA with the San Diego Spirit.








Amanda Feigt roamed the Ute forward line from 2003 to 2006. She has the most assists in the history of the program 22.

Both players will be in attendance with their families for the big game...

Click here to see the complete 10-year anniversary team.

Hanging On in California

We played a good Cal Poly team in San Luis Obispo today. We had challenged each other to put forth an extra effort and do the little things to help us get a win. The first half was a good one for the Utes. We are getting much better at keeping possession and moving the ball quickly as a team. And we had some great passing sequences early on. One of those sequences resulted in Kelly Isleib's 5th goal of the season. The second half was a tough challenge as the host Mustangs came out with great passion to equalize. We hung on for the first few minutes and were able to create some good counter attack chances in the middle of the half. Cal Poly threw bodies up front at the end and had some good pressure...but we were able to hang on for a great win.

Click here for game details and quotes!

Now we are back at the hotel. No flights available tonight. So we will meet in the hotel lobby tomorrow morning at 4:30 in order to head back home...many players will be going straight to class when we arrive back in Salt Lake City.

We had a nice visit with former Ute goal keeper, Ashley Mason Correa. Ashley became a new mom last week, giving birth to Penelope. The girls are living up in San Jose, California with husband (and new dad) Hugo Correa. Check out video of the new family with Emalee Rogers and Christine Quinn after the game at Pismo Beach.

Young Utes Learning About "Road Rules"

The Washington Huskies took it to us last night, 3-0. You can read more about the game here.
It may seem hard to believe, but the game was closer than the score and statistics indicate. We were out shot (19-3)...and gave up 14 corner kicks (way too many)...We did play with great confidence on the ball and played one of our better games between the boxes...However, the game is not decided in the middle part of the field but around penalty boxes. And we clearly we outplayed there. Two of the goals were on corner kicks...And the other was scored just 47 seconds after the first one...

One of the lessons we must learn is that winning on the road takes tremendous concentration, effort and execution. There are more factors involved than just enduring travel weariness. The Huskies were fired up last night...playing at home in front of an excited crowd. They are having their best season in several years and the players are brimming with confidence. We needed to match their energy and couldn't do it for long enough stretches. We also have to be prepared to tough calls from the refs, different field conditions than we are used to, and even some heckling from the fans. All of these challenges require your best to overcome...and although we played okay at times...it was not near enough for us to win the game, especially near both goals.

We have played 6 road games so far (1-4-1 record) and have yet to find the right mindset for consistent success. When we play at Ute Field our energy level and commitment have been very good...tomorrow, with our game against Cal Poly, we will have another chance to see if we can give that little bit extra to carry us through...Kickoff is at 1 PM Pacific Time.

Star Gazing at the Airport

We arrived at the Salt Lake Airport today...while waiting for our flight...the girls spotted Utah Jazz forward Matt Harpring ...a few of them ran over to get an autograph...Harpring said, "Utah soccer team?....I need a photo with you gals!"...nice guy!

We arrived in Seattle to some rain....surprise! The weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow. We will head over the the university for an early morning stretch and kick around...Here's hoping for a good match tomorrow night!

Pink on the Pitch Day Brings Awareness But No Victory

Pink on the Pitch Day was a big success. Lots of good folks dressed in pink, thinking of and honoring the fight against Breast Cancer. Both teams were outfitted in special Under Armour uniforms...we wore white with pink...the Fullerton Titans wore pink...(we probably need to have a darker pink next year...the referee had a tough day with the similar colors!).

We fell behind early and were able to fight back on a first half equalizer from Morgan Skeen...the game ended in a 1-1 draw. For more details, check out the game report.

Morgan was also honored by being named to the Soccer Buzz National Team of the Week. Click here to see the team. Congratulations!

Now it's on to a tough road trip with the Washington Huskies in Seattle on Friday and the Cal Poly Mustangs in San Luis Obispo on Sunday...more to come on those matches.

Morgan Skeen: Pitch on the Pink Day Brings Home Special Meaning

Morgan Skeen is a sophomore defender from Coto de Caza in Southern California. She is the youngest of 5 children of Doug and Linda Skeen. We are raising awareness for breast cancer today with our "Pink on the Pitch" game against Cal State Fullerton.

Morgan explains why today's match has special meaning for her:


"My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer last year in late September. This came as a shock to say the least. I went from thinking the phrase 'save the Ta-Ta's' was funny and light hearted, to something that could potentially take my mom from my family. Although, I think my family now can see this experience as a blessing in disguise, not everyone is as fortunate as my family to have my mom complete 7 months of chemotherapy and 3 months of radiation and look as beautiful and healthy as ever. This is why I think this is such an awesome opportunity for us to come together and make everyone aware. I always knew my mom was tough, but she gives that word a whole new meaning. She is my hero. My mom has kept a blog throughout this whole experience and this is just piece of her first posting after finding out she had been diagnosed.


'I have come to see this as a difficult experience with many blessings and countless opportunities attached to it. I have been handed a very special chance to teach my children and grandchildren how we deal with difficult times and challenges in our lives and to demonstrate by example, my faith that the Lord knows us and loves us and He is the source of the peace that we seek.'


"I am excited to play in this breast cancer game but most of all I can't wait to play for my mom and all the other women and families that have been effected by breast cancer. "

Morgan and Toomey Dance Off

Okay, we had to bring you the actual tape...if you recall, on our first road trip of the year to North Carolina...we visited a minor league baseball game between the Winston-Salem Warthogs and the Myrtle Beach Pelicans...we showed you a photo of the legendary dance off between Ute sophomores Alyssa Toomey and Morgan Skeen. We feel this is a great time to show you the actual video...Great stuff...!

Sunday is "Pink on the Pitch" Day

This Sunday's game against Cal State Fullerton will be a special day at Ute Field. "Pink on the Pitch" day will be used the game to promote cancer awareness.

Under Armour, supplies the uniforms for both the Utes and the Titans. They have provided each team with special uniforms...the Utes will be wearing white with pink...while the Titans will be dressed in pink...

Some of the day's big features:

• Everyone is encouraged to wear pink...Free admission to all fans in pink!
  

• 500 pink hankies & special Utah Athletes Cancer Awareness posters will be given away.
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• The Huntsman Cancer Institute will be on-site handing out informational pamphlets.
  

• Halftime presenter: MaryAnn Gerber was diagnosed at the age of 24 with melanoma. She beat the beast & survived. Now she is a great advocate to keep our youth out of tanning beds. It's been three years since her diagnosis and she is now trying to educate the public about the sun and how to keep our skin safe.
  

Big day for women's soccer: WPS allocation

You may not have known, but...today was a big day for women's soccer...the new Women's Professional Soccer league (WPS) held its allocation draft for the members of the gold medal winning U.S. National Team. The league will start up next summer with 7 teams:

Los Angeles
Bay Area (San Jose/San Francisco)
Chicago
St. Louis
Sky Blue (New Jersey)
Washington
Boston

They will add three teams in 2010: Atlanta, Dallas and Philadelphia

Want to know where such stars as Abby Wambach, Shannon Boxx, Kate Markgraff and Aly Wagner will be playing?...click here to the home page for the WPS!

Utes Show Progress, But Cannot Crack LMU Defense

We had a delayed flight back into Salt Lake City...didn' t get back into town until midnight...but, in case you missed it...

The Utes drew with Loyola Marymount of Los Angeles...0-0 final result.  We played with good energy and effort...creating several scoring chances from corner kicks as well as the run of play.  Some solid goal keeping from the Lions (as well as one save off the line from a defender) kept us out of the net.  It was disappointing not to get the win as we had worked hard enough to get one or two in.  However, some times it takes some precision in the attack as well as in the finishing to score.  And we were unable to do that.  Our team is creating more chances up front.  We have been able to limit our last two opponents to one or two chances...and that is a credit to the entire team.  We are improving and hope to continue to do so this weekend as we host Long Beach State (Friday, 7:30 PM) and Cal State Fullerton (Sunday, 1:00 PM)...two very good teams from the Big West Conference.  More details to follow this week!

Check out the story and box score by clicking here.

Good night for Utah Soccer

Big crowd...great atmosphere...and a hard fought game between the Utes and Aggies....what a great night for soccer in the state of Utah. The Utes came out with great passion and determination and created numerous scoring chances....thwarted by the post as well as Aggie goal keeper Ali Griffin. Finally, in the 65th minute, Kelly Isleib latched on to a loose ball in midfield and took the ball 50 yards, dribbling by a couple of Aggie defenders before slotting it home with her left fool...Just 10 minutes later, defender Morgan Skeen, attacking up the right side, cut inside the box and "toe-poked" the ball at the goal...it deflected off of an Aggie defender and into the goal for a 2-0 lead. It was a good performance and a great night. Thanks to all of the Utah Youth Soccer Association players, coaches and fans for putting on a clinic and coming out in record numbers to support the team.

For more about the game...see this article in the Deseret Morning News
And this one in the Salt Lake Tribune.


It's on to Los Angeles today for a tough game against Loyola Marymount University (LMU) on Sunday. Check out the LMU soccer web site to follow the game live on Match Tracker.

Utah State "Clasico" Game Brings Friends Back Together

Friday night at Ute Field, the Utah-Utah State rivalry will be renewed once again. These games are always hotly contested and usually come to a dramatic conclusion. In 2005, the Utes won in Logan on an overtime goal by Amanda Feigt. In 2006, an unfortunate Aggie own-goal in the last few minutes was the deciding factor in a 1-0 Utah win. And last year, two second-half goals in a rain storm broke a scoreless tie. This year's game will be no different.

One of the great features of the rivalry is the great friendships among the players from both teams. Players on opposite sides of the field used to be teammates in club and high school... Many members of the Utah State team have worked our summer camps over the years....Alyssa Lowry, Lindsey Smart, Stef Shiozaki, Ali Griffin and others. Alex (Marsh) Gentry from Utah State is the sister of former Ute, Hailey Marsh. Current Ute Katie Brower played at Utah State for a couple of seasons before transferring to our program.

Friday night's game is Utah Youth Soccer night. All youth soccer players are eligible for free tickets from the Utah Youth Soccer Association (UYSA). There will be a free clinic at 6:30 PM conducted by UYSA staff coaches and both teams will participate in an autograph session after the game...Click here for more information.

Come on by and join the fun!

Wednesdays with Coach Argust

Wednesday's are a conditioning day for the Utes. We spend the first part of training with Coach Greg Argust from our strength and conditioning staff. Coach Argust is a ball of energy and has just the right balance of pushing our players as well as encouraging them.

During the season, we focus on exercises that increase strength and flexibility, help prevent injury, and help with recovery from our games.

Some players that want to focus on a particular aspect of their athletics do extra work with Coach Argust later in the week as well.

In the off-season, we work two or three days each week with Coach Argust. At that time we program spend more time increasing strength and quickness.












Here's Coach Argust at work with the team, doing a couple of flexibility exercises before training...this is toward the end of his session, so it's a little more "low key" than the usual:





In addition to the work we do with Coach Argust, we have a conditioning program that we follow that was designed by Pierre Barrieu, the conditioning coach for the U.S. National Team. Pierre's programusually has 2-3 workouts per week. It consists of many interval runs, mixed in with speed training and shorter runs. It is designed for peak fitness in October and November and takes into account many aspects of the tough college season.

Check out the great information at Pierre's web site!

The Record Skips...another tight loss

Well, things aren't much fun in the middle of a 4-game losing streak....we fell to Oregon State in a tight game that was decided late...this time in overtime...1-0. The goal that was scored was unfortunate for us as the ball was crossed in from the side...mis-hit...and went directly into our goal...ouch!

After a rough first half, we made some corrections to our game and attitude at the break and played a solid second half. We were a bit unlucky not to get a goal as the Beavers' goal keeper made two terrific saves late in the game...and we had scored an apparent goal from a corner kick with about 10 minutes left, but the referee ruled that their goal keeper was interfered with...

Things can get testy when they are not falling your way...little mistakes seem much larger...every call that goes the other way is an injustice...the goal that you're shooting at can seem like a tiny hole, like the eye of the needle...it's a great test of character to keep forging ahead and work to improve...it is important to stay positive and confident...and to stay committed to the team and to working hard...

After a rest day today, we will head back to the practice field Tuesday to work on some things that we need to do a bit better. Hopefully the recent losing streak creates a determination to improve and turn the recent results around.

Friday night we host Utah State at 7:30 P.M. at Ute Field...it is Utah Youth Soccer Association night...free tickets, autograph session and other events planned....more details can be found at www.utahutes.com...

Bowling in Corvallis Clears the Mind for the Beavers

Well, Friday was another tough loss...falling 3-2 to the Oregon Ducks. The winning goal was scored with less than 7 minutes left on a corner kick. The second straight game in which we fell to a late goal was disappointing. After falling behind in the 10th minute, we fought back to take a 2-1 lead after a PK by Katy Reineke and a bullet from Kelly Isleib. After going into the half at 2-2, we couldn't get another and were forced to swallow another bitter pill. Good lessons for us all and these will serve us well as we move forward this season. We definitely are trying to clean up our late-game tactics and mentality.

Being on the road is tough and one of the qualities needed is the ability to "brush off" a tough loss on Friday night and come back strong for Sunday. We were able to do it against UNC Greensboro two weeks ago and will attempt the same tomorrow against the Oregon State Beavers.

This morning, we slept in and then made the 40-minutes drive from Eugene to Corvallis. After a brief practice at Oregon State, we checked into the hotel. After a 3-game losing streak...and needing a little break, we headed to the Highland Bowl for a quick game or two...it was good to take our minds off soccer for an hour or so...and, do we ever have some bad bowlers...notable exceptions were goal keeper Amy Edman and freshman Lauren Dudley, who were solid.















Freshman goal keeper, Shay Kennedy, celebrates half of a strike...while assistant coach, Laurel Roderick, gives it some body english...
















Alyssa Toomey and Erin Dalley practice a new bowling grip...while Amy Edman consoles Katie Brower after a tough frame.



The Utes also had some birthday cookies for Chelsea Forbes and Kelly Isleib who celebrate this weekend! An evening video review of the Oregon game and some mexican food capped the day and we hope to come away with a victory tomorrow.

Utes Discuss Training and Heading to Oregon

Sophomore defender, Morgan Skeen, talks about training this week and the upcoming games at Oregon and Oregon State.





Junior midfielder, Kelly Isleib, talks about playing on the road.

"Lost" Weekend Provides Important Lessons

Last Sunday, we fell to the Georgia Bulldogs, 2-1. It was a tough game to lose as we had fought hard to tie the score and felt like we were pushing for the game winner...only to see the Bulldogs score with just over 4 minutes left...Georgia's first goal came just after half time from a corner kick. Just 3 minutes later, we equalized...Lauren Hair twisted and turned her way around the corner of the defense and slipped a pass across the goal...Kellie Woodfield hustled to retrieve the ball and laid it off for an onrushing Chelsea Forbes, who smashed it home for her first college goal and a 1-1 tie.

We created more good attacks and had some chances to hit home a winner...but the Bulldogs scored from a great cross and header. It was a "body blow"...definitely a painful way to fall. Georgia was a good team and scored a fantastic late goal to knock us out.

Losing the first two home games can be deflating...but provided some important lessons. We created good chances in both games and did not finish...we need to be more aggressive in getting forward and being dangerous. We had some lapses in concentration that cost us...in the middle of periods of good play...so more consistency is needed. We were in two close games late into the second half and were unable to pull out a win. That time of the game...crunch time...is when we have to be most aggressive and lift our play.

Now we head to Oregon to play the Ducks and Beavers...another chance for improvement!

Disappointing Result in Home Opener

We fell in our home opener to Arizona last night, 4-0. Thanks to all the wonderful supporters that came out to cheer for the Utes...we had a great crowd and the Utah Drum Line was fantastic at halftime.

It's always disappointing to fall short, especially at home. But it was probably our best performance of the new season in many ways. We held the ball better in attack and put good pressure on the Arizona team all over the field. After giving up an early goal, we chased the game.
With about ten minutes left and the score still at 1-0, we took out a defender and put in an extra forward to try to equalize. It back fired a bit as we gave up 3 goals in the last 10 minutes, but it was worth the risk and we'll have to keep working on our approach at the end of the game when we need to score.

No rest for the weary as we take on the Georgia Bulldogs tomorrow (Sunday) at 1:00 P.M. at Ute Field. Here's to bouncing back and a better result!

Opening Weekend is Here!

We are fast approaching Labor Day weekend...

And our first home games are upon us...the players were buzzing today at practice and we hope to put on a good performance. These are valuable experiences for our young team and we will be challenged by two good teams. It will be the start of the final season at home for a great group of seniors and we aim to make their last one a success... Amanda Sanchez, Amy Edman, Katy Reineke, Addie Hair and Jen Christoffers.



Friday, 7:30 PM Arizona at Utah

Rush Mayor's Cup night for all players and teams participating in the Mayor's Cup tournament. Free posters and "Meet the Team" autograph for all fans after the game.

Sunday, 1:00 PM Georgia at Utah

Camp Reunion Day and Avalanche Club Day.
We look forward to having all campers come back for a reunion party on Sunday....come and see friends made last summer.
Poster give away...