Utah Takes 2-1 Win Over SDSU

Sunday, October 28

Salt Lake City, Utah

1:00 PM

University of Utah

San Diego State

10/28/2007 12:00 AM | Soccer

Oct. 28, 2007

Box Score

SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah women's soccer team picked up a wild 2-1 victory over San Diego State at Ute Field Saturday. Ute sophomore Kelly Isleib (Park City, Utah) scored her first goal of the season with less than two minutes remaining in regulation play to notch the game-winning goal.

After a scoreless first half, it looked as though San Diego State (8-7-3, 3-2-1 MWC) had taken a 1-0 lead. Heather Vandeventer got behind the defense and beat Ute goalkeeper Lynzee Lee (Soph., Kalispell, Mont.). No sooner than the ball had hit the net, Lee was asking for a hand ball. After the officials conferred, it was ruled that Vandeventer did touch the ball with her hand and the goal was disallowed.

In the 69th minute, Utah (11-3-4, 3-1-2) scored a goal that actually did count. Aztec goalkeeper Aubree Southwick came off her line to clear a ball, but couldn't keep it away from Utah's Adele Letro (Jr., Davis, Calif.). Letro was able to catch Southwick out of position and get a shot into the upper right corner of the goal before Southwick could retreat. Letro's tally was her 17th of the season.

Midway through the second half, trailing 1-0 SDSU put an extra attacker in the contest. It paid off by way of an own goal. The Aztecs had pressure on in the 80th minute, looking for the equalizer. With the ball rolling toward the goal, Ute freshman Nicole Cardon (Lehi, Utah) tried to clear it, but tapped it back into the net and the contest was knotted at 1-1.

"Nicole played one of her best games this year, so it was unfortunate for her to score the own goal," Ute head coach Rich Manning said. "But overall she played well."

With 1:40 remaining in the contest, Isleib got her teammate off the hook. Letro made a nice run down the left side and found Isleib just outside the box. Isleib dribbled a few times to the top of the 18 and fired a shot toward goal. She was able to sneak it past Southwick into the bottom left corner to put the Utes on top 2-1.

"Kelly had a great game and could be one of our big scorers in the future," Manning said.

Isleib was just happy to finally get the goal-scoring monkey off her back, despite being one of the top five in the nation in assists per game.

"It felt great to finally get my first goal," she said. "I just kept pushing and pushing and it came at a great time."

Still, the last minute or so was harrowing for the Utes as San Diego State poured on the pressure looking to tie the contest. With 18 seconds remaining, the Aztecs were awarded a corner kick. The kick came in from Millie Allen with about 10 seconds remaining on the clock. There was a mad scramble for the ball with nearly every player on the field in the box. The ball was inside the six-yard box for the final seconds, with both teams trying to put a foot on it.

Mercifully for Utah, the buzzer sounded with the ball still tangled in the mass of bodies in front of the goal mouth.

"It felt good to get a win after the last couple weeks," Manning said. "We came out relaxed on our Senior Day and the team had a lot of energy."

Utah will wrap up the regular season on the road Saturday at Wyoming. Kickoff is slated for Noon in Laramie.

-UU-