New Ute: Monica Continues Bountiful HS Connection

The Utes have had many good players come from Bountiful High School...Monica Okapal is the newest member of the entering Class of 2009...and the latest Bountiful High School product of coach Dave Wigham's program. Monica suffered a traumatic ACL injury to her knee in 2007 and missed her junior year of high school soccer. However, she came back strong as a senior to score over 25 goals and lead the Braves to the State Final game in class 4A this year.

Names such as Carisse Winegar and current players Christine Quinn and Chelsea Forbes will ring familiar with Utah Soccer fans. And Monica will bring the same kind of talent and competitiveness to the U.

Welcome, Monica!

New Ute: Dual Sport Athlete Joins the Team

Natalie Young will be making the trip up I-15 to Salt Lake City next year. Natalie will be very busy as she will be playing soccer in the fall semester and running for the Ute track and field squad in the spring.

Natalie is a forward from Springville High School, where she played for coach Ryan Swanson. (Former Ute player Mckenzie Joyner also came to the U from the Red Devils).

Natalie is fast, she is two-footed and covers a lot of ground. She was chosen as the Utah Valley Girls' Soccer Player of the Year by the Provo Daily Herald (they took the photo at left). Click here to read the article.

Natalie will also be running the long sprints for the Utah Track and Field team. She runs the 100, 200 and 400 meter sprints and was a state champ in her class last year as a junior. Natalie will be following in the footsteps of former Utah dual-sport great, Amanda Feigt, who was a 4-time all Mountain West Conference player in soccer and won the MWC heptathlon in 2007.

Welcome, Natalie!






Ute soccer and track fans

New Ute: Canadian Thunder from Toronto

Stephanie Lemeza is the latest player to join the Utah Ute soccer family! Stephanie hails from Toronto, Ontario in Canada. She attends St. Aloysius Gonzaga Secondary School and plays for coach Fausto Macri and the Erin Mills Soccer Club.

Coach Manning spotted Stephanie in between shivers in Mississauga last May in some of the coldest soccer weather he can remember...He almost lost some fingers due to frostbite, but it was worth it! Steph is a powerful and versatile player. She is excellent in the air, hits great long passes and can score from distance.

The U. has a long list of great Canadian athletes in sports like basketball, swimming and diving, skiing, track and field....Stephanie is the first Canadian to join the soccer program...and we are super excited to have Stephanie on our team!

Happy Birthday, Christine!

Well, Friday morning workouts started off with a rousing rendition of "Happy Birthday, Christopher"....as we celebrated #20 for sophomore defender, Christine Quinn!

Chris is a very hard worker and one of the most improved players on the team. Fellow sophomore, Morgan Skeen, brought Chris a birthday present of some "Bling"...a big gold necklace and gold teeth...We are busy looking for a photo, but think Christine's family would appreciate this happy photo for now.

Have a great day, Christine. Those teen years are now in the rear view mirror.

New Ute: Zoe Brings Defense and more

The paper work is trickling in on our new group of Utah soccer players...we'd like to give you the news as it happens. We will follow up with a more detailed release on UtahUtes.com early next week...

Zoe Van Gorder is a tremendous athlete: power, strength, agility. She is also a good defender and is a weapon with her heading ability. Here is a photo of Zoe signing her NLI to make it official...smiles all around and great excitement at the soccer offices.

Zoe comes to the U from Park City High School (about 30 minutes away from campus) and the Black Diamond Soccer Club, where she played for Coach Richie Breza. Zoe was a high school teammate of current Ute Kelly Isleib and a club teammate of current Ute Chelsea Forbes.

Welcome, Zoe!!

NLI Signing Date is Tomorrow!

Tomorrow is a big day for the Utes. It is the first day that high school seniors can sign National Letters of Intent, which means that players will officially be joining our family. Our team and fans will be jumping for joy tomorrow as the NLI's come in, just like in the picture!

A National Letter of Intent (NLI) is a document that tells the NCAA which school a players will attend. Once it is signed and sent in, then that player becomes a full-fledged member of that team. High school seniors can sign an NLI in soccer any time after 7:00 AM tomorrow. They don't have to sign tomorrow...but can do it all the way through the summer.

Join the Ute Soccer blog (here) and UtahUtes.com tomorrow and through the week as we introduce to you are new team members and give you the inside scoop!

Super Bowl excitement

Did you see the big game last night? Yes, even us soccer fanatics watch other sports at times. And the Super Bowl was a great example of players performing at the highest level under the most intense pressure imagined. What a great advertisement for sports! And what a great example of confidence, commitment and teamwork. Both teams were terrific and provided modeling for how we would like to perform...

We caught this article from SI.com writer, Peter King. It focuses on the team atmosphere and family environment around the Pittsburgh Steelers team and how this team chemistry probably allowed them to come back when things looked "bleak"...this is the kind of team environment that we strive for...

Click here! We think you'll find this fascinating!

Congratulations to both the Steelers and the Cardinals....wow!