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.