Utah 3 UCSB 3

The Utah soccer team battled to a 3-3 tie against UC Santa Barbara this afternoon in a spring game held at the Toyota College Classic in Temecula, California. Lauren Hair scored twice and Kelly Isleib tallied once as the Utes clawed to three separate leads, only to have the Gauchos draw even on each occasion. The game marked the first action for the Utes since returning from their trip to Argentina and Uruguay two weeks ago.

Utah scored first in the 17th minute as some good defending by the forwards stripped the Gaucho defense of the ball and gave Hair a breakaway on the UCSB goal keeper, which the freshman forward slotted home for a 1-0 lead. UCSB tied the score just four minutes later from a corner kick.

Early in the second half, Hair struck again after a free kick from midfield. Christine Quinn hit a long ball into the Gaucho defensive third, where Kelly Isleib headed it on to a streaking Hair who slammed it into the Gaucho net for a 2-1 Ute lead. The Gauchos tied it up four minutes later when Utah goal keeper, Emalee Rogers, was ruled to have fouled a forward in the box for a penalty kick, which was put away to make it 2-2.

The Utes quickly regained a lead at 3-2 just three minutes later after some nice wing play by Hair set up Isleib in front of the net, where she tapped it in. However, UCSB would tie it up for good in the 66th minute and the Utes would have to settle for a draw.

The game marked the first action of the spring for two Utah freshmen defenders. Morgan Skeen, played the full game in her return after ACL reconstruction surgery in October. And Alyssa Toomey saw limited action after spending the last 3 months recovering from shoulder surgery.

"There are many things that we try to accomplish with the spring games and, overall, this was another important part of the process", said coach Rich Manning. "Players are being given opportunities to sharpen their game in a very competitive environment. We are improving tremendously in our ball movement and have been quite dangerous in front of the goal. We still need to improve defensively as a team and to understand the important moments. And we will continue to work on these things."

The Utes will continue action in the Toyota College Classic on Sunday, April 6 with a contest against the Pepperdine Waves. Kickoff will be at 9:45 A.M. Pacific Time. For more information about the event, go to www.collegeclassic.com and click on the California link.