Deja Vu All Over Again

In case you missed it, we lost another close one at home yesterday. William & Mary came to town and slipped away with a 3-1 victory. We had a couple of defensive lapses and couldn't take advantage of several chances.

The Tribe played in a tight defensive shell and waited for counter attack opportunities. They got one in early on for a 1-0 lead. We came back within two minutes and got an equalizer as Lauren Hair fed Hanna Terry, who rifled it home from 20 yards out. We fell behind again just 10 minutes later. And we chased the game for the next 65 minutes (just so you know, that can be really tiring!).

We had several close calls, including two balls that were saved off the line by defenders. As we pushed for the tying goal late in the second half, William & Mary scored a third on the counter attack...it was not to be on the day.

For more information on yesterday's game click here!

So, we've had two tough results at home. It's important for our team to stay confident and positive. The past two games have taught us some good lessons and things to work on:

How to play "catch up"
How to come back from mistakes
How to play against teams that are in a defensive mode and asking us to carry the game
Being more precise around the goal

and others...

We'll be back at Ute Field on Wednesday, September 9 at 7:30 PM to face the Princeton Tigers from the Ivy League. Princeton is a traditional power in women's soccer and we expect another tight battle.

For more information on Princeton click here.

Come and join us. It's a Crimson Night...and the athletes from all the other sports here at the U. will be there to cheer us on.

Big Weekend in Utah

We've been out of commission for a few days as our faithful correspondent, Danielle Sample, is busy organizing and attending her sister's wedding!

The team has been busy getting ready for our next game at 1 PM Sunday against a resilient William & Mary team. The Tribe, coached by the legendary John Daly (over 300 career victories), pulled out a 1-0 against BYU Friday night and will be eager to follow that up tomorrow.

You can find out more about W&M by clicking here.

There are also other things going on at the U. Thursday night was the football team's 2009 home opener and the Utes defeated Utah State, 35-17, in front of a sold out crowd.

And this afternoon, many of the players and coaches are heading down to Rio Tinto Stadium to watch the important World Cup qualifying game between the U.S. and El Salvador. It should be an electric atmosphere and we can't wait.

We hope to see our friends tomorrow at Ute Field. Come and help the Utes bounce back from our first loss of the season on Wednesday.

Going to the Heights for Great Cause

Day 4 of our 2009 Preseason Training Camp started early with a 6 A.M. wake up call and a 20-minute drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon to the Snowbird Resort for a very special event. The Cancer Wellness House of Utah was hosting their annual Survivors at the Summit hike.



Katie Porter is the cousin of Ute sophomore Lauren Porter and also the Executive Director of the Cancer Wellness House. We were asked to come and help set up for this wonderful event. Teams of hikers climb up the mountain to raise money and honor loved ones afflicted by cancer. Our players took the tram up the the Hidden Peak Summit (11,000 feet) and helped to set up the seats, podium and "Tribute Flags" that were raised with names of cancer survivors. Players and coaches also got to write the names of their loved ones on flags .

For more information on the Cancer Wellness House, click here!

For more information about Snowbird Resort, click here!

Special props to sophomore Katie Martinez who managed the terrain just a couple of weeks after an arthroscopic procedure on her knee. And also kudos to Chelsea Forbes who overcame a serious fear of heights while helping out up top.

After the short trip back to campus, the team gathered for an early afternoon training session, featuring a team scrimmage. Goals were scored by Anne Shallenberger, Hanna Terry and Erin Dalley with two as the shirt team squeaked by with a close victory.

The Utes will take a much-needed rest day on Sunday before regrouping on Monday morning for another big week of preparation.

Let's Race! Ute Incoming Players Tear it Up on the Track

Well, next year's conditioning and relay races should be interesting...we have some speedsters coming in for this fall...Two of them were on full display last weekend...

Down in Las Vegas, Ashley Mosley (left) ran a 55.25 (!) seconds for the 400 meters in her region meet for Centennial High School. Ashley also runs the 800 and relays for her track team, which is a power house in Nevada.

Ashley will be running in the state track meet this weekend.
Good Luck!









Meanwhile, back here in Utah, Natalie Young, was winning the 4A title in the 400 meters for her Springville team. Her time of 56. 45 was also outstanding! Natalie also came in 4th in the 100 meters with a time of 12.7....and she helped in the relays as Springville came in 2nd place as a team...





So, we will have some great battles in our fall training...who will be fastest? Ashley, Natalie, Erin Dalley, Lauren Hair, Nicole Cardon...Monica Okapal, Hanna Terry....Sounds like a topic for a future blog reader's poll...

2009 Schedule Coming Into Focus - Utes vs. UVU to Open

Usually by now we are done with our fall schedule and making preparations for preseason training as well as the travel. However, this spring was quite unusual...The NCAA had a proposal on the table to "extend" the women's soccer season to 12 weeks from its current 11. We are allowed to play a maximum of 20 games (not counting the MWC tournament or the NCAA's)...and it has gotten to be a grind to try to squish those 20 games into 11 weekends...By stretching to an extra weekend, we can allow for better rested players and possibly reduce class time missed for away games.

Well, the proposal was finally voted on and passed last week. So, many schools are scrambling to move things around. We are now allowed to start playing games on August 21...instead of August 28. The Utes are busy finalizing the schedule and it should be done soon.

For those of you on the blog, here is a sneak preview: We will open the season with a home match against Utah Valley University on Friday, August 21 at 7:30 PM at Ute Field! It will be great to play an in-state rival to start the season. Other home games are scheduled with Santa Clara, Cal Poly, William & Mary, Princeton, Pepperdine, Weber State as well as Mountain West Conference foes TCU, New Mexico and Air Force.