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Utah Soccer Falls At No. 21 Wake Forest In Overtime, 2-1
Utes score first but come up just short in season-opener on the road.
Aug. 22, 2008
"Overall I was really pleased with the game tonight," said Utah head coach Rich Manning. "Our young players showed great composure. Emalee (Rogers) was terrific in goal and our two center backs, Christine Quinn and Lauren Porter, played well in front of her. Wake Forest is a really good team and I thought our young players held up well under the pressure. It really pointed to good things for the future. "The bottom line for me is that now we have a starting point," Manning continued. "We know where we are as a team. We had a lot of new players getting their first collegiate minutes and some players who have been in the program for a while getting their first significant playing time, all against a very good opponent. This was a great barometer for our progress and that was the most important thing about today's game." After playing to a 1-1 draw in regulation, Wake Forest got the game-winning goal from Allie Sadow in the 98th minute. Sadow finished off a pass from Amy Smerdzinski from seven yards out, despite the best diving effort of Utah's senior goalkeeper Emalee Rogers (Centerville, Utah). Utah opened up the scoring first, getting on the board at the 11:54 mark as Isleib found the back of the net. After receiving a thru-ball down the left side from senior midfielder Katy Reineke (Salt Lake City), sophomore forward Lauren Hair (Alpine, Utah) beat a Wake defender, then picked out Isleib at the top of the penalty box. Isleib did not let the opportunity go to waste, running onto the ball and slotting a one-timer inside the right post from about 15 yards out, drawing the season's first blood.
"After Katy played it thru, Lauren chased it down and beat her defenders with speed," said Isleib. "I was thinking I had to get to the top of the box because I was a little behind the play, so I just sprinted there. Their keeper was tall, so when Lauren slid it back, I knew I just wanted to place it low. "It was really nice to play outside competition tonight," Isleib added. "I feel we had good game, we obviously have some things to work on, but overall I was impressed with our play." Just six minutes after Isleib cracked the lid on the new season, Wake Forest drew level at 1-1 as Jill Hutchinson scored from range. Kaley Fountain played a long ball into Wake's attacking zone, where Hutchinson collected it and buried a shot from 18 yards out. Utah was outshot in the game by a total of 21-6, but held the Deacons to just two shots on goal. "I think overall we did a really good job tonight," Rogers said following the game. "It was good to get people some time who have not played much or who were playing for the first time. It was nice to see us come so close to getting a result against such a good team. "I felt confident out there tonight and I knew the defense in front of me would do a good job," continued Rogers. "Kelly's goal was awesome. I was very excited to see us get on the board first, I think it gave the team a lot of confidence and it was a great way to start the season offensively." Wake Forest took eight corners to Utah's one, and the Utes committed 11 fouls to the Deacons' three. The Utes are back in action Sunday, Aug. 24, with an 11 a.m. MT contest at UNC Greensboro. The Spartans defeated Coastal Carolina Friday night in double-overtime, 3-2. Utah returns to Salt Lake City for its home-opener Friday, Aug. 29, as the Utes host Arizona at 7 p.m. MT at Ute Field. They will then face No. 18-ranked Georgia at 1 p.m. Sunday.
On the team's offensive attack: "Offensively there were times where our passing and movement was really dangerous and I thought it flowed very well. I think we are certainly capable of doing that more consistently, and that's what we will be working towards against UNC Greensboro Sunday." On the quality of Utah's goal: "I think the way we scored that goal is the way we will be dangerous all season. We saw three of our attacking personality players doing their thing in space. We have been seeing that in practice and I believe we will see it more often in games. We had a few other opportunities like that as well, where three or four people did a good job of getting forward and being dangerous." |
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