Soccer returned to the Utah campus for the first time since late October as the Utes earned a hard-fought 3-1 win over the Utah State Aggies. The attacking trio of Kelly Isleib, Lauren Hair and Erin Dalley combined to create all three goals as the Utes held off the 2008 WAC champions.
Utah started strong and held an advantage in possession throughout the early stages of the match. In the fifth minute, Isleib threaded a pass from midfield that split the defense and put La La in on the Aggie goal. La hit a hard, low shot that caromed off the near post. A Utah State defender tried to clear the ball off the line and it ricocheted off another Aggie and into the net. The own goal gave the Utes a 1-0 lead.
In the 29th minute, Kelly, La and Dalley had a thrilling combination of passes that put Dalley on the ball inside the box, but her shot was saved be Molli Merrill, the Aggie goal keeper.
The Aggies had a series of corner kicks late in the half, but were unable to capitalize.
Early in the 2nd half, the Utes put some pressure on the Aggie goal. Chelea Forbes hit a fantastic shot from 22 yards that Merrill acrobatically tipped over the bar. In the 65th minutes, Erin Dalley made an explosive, weaving run with the ball from just inside the mid-line to the top of the 18-yard box. Her initial shot was blocked but came right back to her and she cooly pushed it into the net for a 2-0 lead. Erin missed all of last season with an ACL injury and is starting to find her form.
Utah State rallied later in the half. Lauren Hansen got into the Ute penalty box in the 75th minute and cut a defender before pushing her shot wide. In the 79th minute, the Aggies scored an apparent goal but it was taken back as Utah was called for a foul as the shot was being taken.
On the ensuing free kick from the top of the 18, Lindsey Smart powered into the corner of the net to cut the lead to 2-1.
Just one minute later, the Utes responded. Kelly Isleib took a ball from the left side and hit a laser-like cross to the far post where Lauren Hair lunged to half volley it home from 8 yards out....a fantastic goal and a 3-1 lead. La La has continued her scoring spree that had her score all 5 of her goals last fall in the last 8 games. She has scored 2 in just 3 spring games and also created the own goal last night. La is becoming a very dangerous player each time she steps on the field, whether she is scoring, creating for others or drawing fouls.
The defense looked good for most of the match. Sophomore Nicole Cardon had a very strong showing, especially in the second half as she shut down the right side of the Aggie attack and got forward a few times as well. Fellow sophomore Morgan Skeen also created havoc on the other side in the second half, getting forward a few times and just missing on a shot late in the game.
All three returning goal keepers saw action. Hannah Turpen played the first 45 minutes. Emalee Rogers and Shay Kennedy both played in the second half. Emalee has fought hard to come back from a broken leg suffered over the Christmas break. It was great to see her back out on the field.The Utes will return to action this Saturday at the BYU invitational. They will face Utah Valley at 10:00 AM and then play Dixie State at 6:00 PM. Ute midfielder Kelly Isleib will leave Saturday to go to camp with the U.S. under 23 national team in Portland, Oregon.
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