#2 Utah Holds Off #3 TCU, 2-1, in Overtime

Utah advances to MWC Championship Final to face #1 BYU or #5 UNLV Saturday

Nov. 6, 2008

LAS VEGAS, Nev. -

The second-seeded Utah Utes (11-8-2) needed just 25 seconds of overtime to advance to Saturday's Mountain West Conference Championship final with a 2-1 victory over the TCU Horned Frogs (14-4-2). Utah was the recipient of an own-goal by TCU in the 91st minute (90:25) to advance to its fifth championship appearance in MWC history. The Utes will face either top-seeded BYU or fifth-seeded UNLV on Saturday, Nov. 6 at noon PT. The contest will be aired via tape delay on The Mtn. at 10:30 p.m. PT.

The game's deciding goal was caused by Utah's Lauren Hair, as she dribbled down the left side of TCU's box. Hair fired a crossing pass towards the front of the goal that TCU's Cheryl Martin deflected into her own net to end the game.

"I thought we did a good job of directing the tempo of the game," said Utah head coach Rich Manning. "It was an exciting game and I thought we did a good job of sticking to our game plan. Although we directed the flow of the game, TCU was still dangerous and got chances to score. We played a good team and I hope they get into the NCAA Tournament."

TCU threw the game into overtime by evening the match at 1-1 in the final minutes of regulation (88:16). The Horned Frogs' Lizzy Karoly received a pass from Katie Taylor inside the box and promptly put the ball into the left side of the net. Caroline Starns was credited with the second assist on the play, as she got the scoring drive started.

After a scoreless first half, Utah's Katy Reineke broke a scoreless tie in the 60th minute (59:10) when she converted a penalty-kick opportunity. Reineke was tackled in TCU's box by Martin to earn the penalty kick. She put the ball into the left side of the goal and past TCU keeper Kelsey Walters for her sixth goal of the year.

The first half was played mostly in the middle except for one good scoring opportunity by each squad. Utah's Lauren Porter attempted a header in the 14th minute, but was unsuccessful, as the shot went wide. TCU's Jordan Calhoun owned the best chance for the Horned Frogs with a shot that was saved by Emalee Rogers of Utah. In all, Utah owned a 7-2 advantage in shots and 2-1 advantage in shots on goal.

Rogers picked up the win in goal for Utah, making just two saves on the day. Walters made three saves for TCU.