Pepperdine 1 Utah 0

The Utah soccer team fell to the Pepperdine Waves, 1-0, in their final game at the Toyota College Classic Sunday in Temecula, California. Amanda Rupp scored the lone goal of the game fifteen minutes into the second half and the Waves were able to make it stand up.

The 70-minute game was played with a stiff breeze blowing. The Utes headed into the wind during the first half and had to defend a bit with the conditions. Goal keeper, Emalee Rogers, snuffed out a couple of through passes early and defender, Morgan Skeen, had to clear a loose ball in front of an open net in the 17th minute.

Utah found some rhythm in the latter stages of the half and were unfortunate not to take the lead in the final minute when midfielder Amanda Sanchez hit a beautifully floated through pass over the Pepperdine defense and onto the rushing Kelly Isleib. Isleib tried to chip the bouncing ball over the goal keeper, but her shot floated over the goal.

The Utes began the second half with some excellent attacking play. Forwards Erin Dalley and Lauren Hair hooked up a couple of times, only to see their combination passes go just out of reach. Dalley broke through in the 50th minute, but Waves goal keeper, Kayla Stolte, just beat her to the ball.

The Pepperdine goal came on a counter attack after some good Utah pressure. The Waves cleared a ball out to midfield and, after a scramble, midfielder Joanna Idom found Rupp behind the defense where she slotted it past Rogers. Utah had some pressure in the final minutes but could not find the equalizer. Amy Edman finished the final 20 minutes in the net, succeeding Rogers.

The Utes will be back in action this Saturday, April 12, when they travel to Provo to play in the BYU Outdoor Spring Invitational.
Utah will face Utah Valley at 11:00 A.M. , then finish with a game against BYU at 4:30 P.M.