Great weather, good competition, watching soccer and Ronaldo....We finished our spring season this past weekend in Oregon with two games at the NIKE campus in Beaverton. We played on the Ronaldo fields there (remember him?).
We fell to the University of Oregon, 1-0, on Saturday. And we defeated Seattle University, 2-1, on Sunday. In between games, we watched the U.S. under 23 national team defeated the University of Portland. All in all, a great way to end a very productive spring season.
On Saturday, we faced the Ducks from Oregon. The Utes were without Kelly Isleib (who was finishing her U.S. team camp), Katie Martinez (injured leg) and Nicole Cardon (shoulder). So some players were moved to different positions as Morgan Skeen played holding midfield and Mallory Mitamura and Christine Quinn filled in admirably at outside backs. We also were happy to have a guest appearance from senior Katy Reineke.
The Ducks were playing their first game of the spring and we fired up to get out and play. We played a lot of defense in the first half as we struggled to match the energy of our opponent. Oregon had a couple of good chances in the first 10 minutes, but were unable to finish. In the 20th minute, Lauren Porter hit a long ball to Erin Dalley, who got behind the defense but had her shot saved by the Ducks' goal keeper. That play seemed to settle us down and the game evened out after that.
Five minutes into the second half there was an exciting sequence. First, goal keeper Hannah Turpen kept the game scoreless with a terrific save on a 1 vs. 1 situation. The ball was cleared out and the Utes sent a threading pass to Lauren Hair who was off on her own breakaway. La hit the ball just inches wide of the far post.
Oregon scored the game's only goal in the 57th minute as a forward got loose just inside the box to the left of the Utah goal and hit a shot that caromed off the far post and into the net. We responded well. In the 63rd minute, Mallory Mitamura fed Erin Dalley with a nice pass and Erin's shot was saved. And in the 65th Dalley fed La who just missed. Overall, it was a fairly good performance which improved after the first 20 minutes.
On Saturday evening, the team packed up the vans and headed to the University of Portland to watch the Pilots take on the U.S. under 23 National Team. The game was enjoyable with a great environment and a good level of soccer. The U.S. defeated Portland, 3-2. We were rooting for our own Kelly Isleib, who was with the U.S. team. Kelly didn't see any action, but she looked good in her uniform. Kelly had played for the U.S. earlier in the week in wins again Oregon State and Washington.
On Sunday, we headed back to the NIKE campus for a match with Seattle University. Kelly rejoined us for the game. We started a bit slowly again. In the fourth minute, the Redhawks opened the scoring with a 25 yard blast. Facing an early deficit, we fought back and Lauren Hair drew a penalty kick in the 10th minute. La took the kick and placed it well into her right corner. However the Seattle goalie made a fantastic diving save to preserver the lead.
We had another close call in the 13th minute after Kelly Isleib took a short corner and drilled a cross to the far post, Lauren Dudley was there but couldn't quite get her volley on frame. Kelly fed La in the 35th minute over the top of the defense, but her shot was saved. Just before the halftime whistle, we tied it up as Chelsea Forbes hit a corner kick into the middle where Erin Dalley headed it home...1-1!The Utes took the lead four minutes into the 2nd half as Chelsea Forbes hit a threaded ball between the Seattle center backs from midfield to a streaking Erin Dalley, who slipped it into the net...2-1!
In the 55th minute, Emalee Rogers kept the lead with a fantastic save on a 1 vs. 1 breakaway. In the 65th minute, Morgan Skeen saved a ball that was heading into the net after a near collision with goal keeper Shay Kennedy (who had replaced Emalee just prior to the play).
Just one minute later, after a great buildup, Kelly Isleib fed Christine Quinn who had raced forward from her right back spot. Chris fired a shot from just inside the box that clanged off the crossbar. Just two minutes from time, Shay saved a hard shot from 25 yards out and the victory was sealed.
Overall a good weekend of soccer!
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