Completed Event: Soccer versus BYU on October 30, 2025 , Loss , 0, to, 2
Final Score
Soccer
0
vs BYU
2
.png&width=31&height=31&type=webp)
The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Soccer Opens Season At Wake Forest Friday
8/20/2008 12:00 AM | Soccer
Aug. 20, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
2008 Utah Soccer Season Tickets
Utes Open 2008 Campaign Friday
The University of Utah women's soccer team opens its 2008 season this weekend as the Utes travel to the state of North Carolina for matches against Wake Forest and UNC Greensboro. Utah takes on the Demon Deacons Friday at 5 p.m. MT at Spry Field in Winston-Salem, then heads to UNCG Field Sunday for an 11 a.m. tilt with the Spartans.
The Utes are coming off of a 12-5-4 effort in 2007 that saw them finish fifth in the Mountain West Conference, missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time in six years.
Both Wake Forest and UNC Greensboro are first-time foes of the Utes. Each match will also mark the first time Utah has ever faced an opponent from either team's respective conferences, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and the Southern Conference (SoCon).
Utah is 9-3-1 all-time in season-opening contests. The Utes are 4-2-1 when lifting the lid on a season away from Ute Field. Under Rich Manning the Utes are 5-1-0 in season-openers (2-1-0 on the road).
Friday's match will be Utah's fourth consecutive season-opener on the road. The match will be the season-opening contest for Wake Forest as well.
Scouting The Demon Deacons
Wake Forest is coming off of a pair of blowout victories in preseason exhibition play, posting a 6-1 win against Appalachian State and a 5-0 shutout of Vanderbilt.
The Demon Deacons enter 2008 after a 13-7-3 season last year that saw them go 6-2-2 in the ACC. Tying for second-place in the conference, WFU earned an NCAA Tournament bid and reached the second round.
WFU returns eight starters and 17 letterwinners from the 2007 squad. The team's top returning player is junior defender Kaley Fountain. She accounted for nine points last season, scoring one goal and leading the team with seven assists. Fountain was one of five Deacons to earn postseason honors, as she was named a second-team All-ACC selection.
Now in his 12th season as the head coach at Wake Forest, Tony da Luz holds a record of 131-80-20 (.610). In his 15-year career, including four seasons prior to arriving at WFU, da Luz is 177-124-23 (.582).
Scouting The Spartans
UNC Greensboro reached postseason play in 2007 as well, propelled to a tournament bid by its second consecutive Southern Conference Championships title. The Spartans put together a 16-5-1 record, including an undefeated 10-0-0 mark in conference play. UNCG also reached the second round of the tournament, before running into No. 4-seeded North Carolina.
UNCG brings back 10 players from that successful starting 11, and returns 20 of 22 letterwinners to the squad. Among them are reigning SoCon Freshman of the Year Kristin Player and four other Spartans who earned first-team All-SoCon honors: Kelly Attayek, Jennifer Bronson, Jamie Corti and Katherine Ryan. In addition, Lauren Lopez was a second-team selection.
Head coach Eddie Radwanski was voted the Southern Conference Coach of the Year in 2007, earning the honor for the second straight year. Now in his eighth year as a head coach, all at UNCG, Radwanski holds a 91-59-9 record (.601).
From The Mind of Manning
Quotes from Utah head coach Rich Manning regarding his squad, this week's opponents and other items of note:
Manning On The Season-Opening Road Trip
"The main thing for us now is that we just need to play some games. The team is really ready to play outside competition and find out where we are at. They came in a week early on their own, so they have been here for three weeks now and they are getting edgy to play. There is no doubt that we are playing two very good teams in tough road environments, but I don't think there is any better way to start out and really gauge our progress to this point."
On His Team's Performance In Preseason
"I think we have taken the first steps in laying a good foundation. We have the right intentions, we have prepared the physical and mental parts, and we have a good teamwork attitude. Now it is just a question of honing our skills from a soccer standpoint, developing our competitive muscles and getting the new faces some game experience."
On The Squad's Goals For The Season:
"We want to win games, make the NCAAs and win our conference, which is what everyone aspires to. But we want to play good soccer and educate our fans while doing so. We want to play a style of soccer that they can enjoy, and we want to help grow our sport. We go into every season ready to do that and we put ourselves on the line by doing so. These ideas will once again be at the forefront of what we are doing on and off the field this year."
Manning The Controls
Rich Manning is 84-29-14 (.717) overall entering his seventh season at Utah, having led the Utes to the NCAA Tournament in five of his six previous years. Manning's teams have won three Mountain West Conference regular season championships (2003, '05, '06) and a pair of league tournament titles (2003, '04). His record against the MWC is an equally impressive 29-5-5 (.808).
Manning has been named the MWC Coach of the Year in two of the last three seasons (2005, '06). His team was undefeated in MWC play in 2006 (7-0-0) and 2005 (6-0-1). The Utes have won at least 12 games in every year of his career at the helm.
Utah advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2006, the second time the team has advanced out of the first round.
In 2003, Manning was named the West Region Coach of the Year by the NSCAA/adidas and Soccer Buzz. The Utes went 16-2-2 that season, won the MWC regular season (6-0-0) and tournament titles, and went to the NCAA Tournament. In 2002, Manning led Utah to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Isleib More Than A Helping Hand
Junior Kelly Isleib (Park City, Utah) enters the year needing just six helpers to become the all-time career leader in assists at Utah. She already stands in third place in that category with 17, and is chasing the career mark of 22 held by Amanda Feigt (2003-06). Last year she set a new school record for assists in a single season, dishing out 13.
Despite Isleib's passing prowess and ability to set up others, Manning hopes she can rediscover her scoring touch and add another facet to the Utah attack.
Reineke Poised For Stellar Senior Year
Senior captain Katy Reineke (Salt Lake City) may have been overshadowed somewhat in 2007, but certainly put together all-star numbers. She quietly netted nine goals and dished out seven assists, accumulating 25 points.
As the top returning scorer, Reineke will look to pick up where she left off last year and will be a scoring threat from anywhere on the field. Her ability to score goals and beat opponents with a deadly cross from either side of the field will be a large part of the Utes' offense.
Rogers Steps To The Forefront
Junior captain Emalee Rogers (Centerville, Utah) has been named the starting goalkeeper for Friday's season-opener at Wake Forest.
Rogers is coming off of a tremendous offseason in which she helped lead the Arizona Rush to the WPSL championship game. She was named the Big Sky Conference Goalkeeper of the Year and was selected as the second-team All-WPSL goalkeeper.
Rogers holds the most collegiate experience of any goalkeeper on the Utah roster, having appeared in seven games, including one start. She played a backup role to career-standout Ashley Mason in 2005, redshirted in 2006, then backed up Lynzee Lee in 2007.
In her only career start, Rogers blanked Wyoming in the 2007 MWC Tournament.
Hair Hopes To Be Super Sophomore
Sophomore Lauren Hair (Alpine, Utah) finished 2007 as the top-scoring freshman. She tied for third on the team with 15 points on four goals and seven assists, and hopes to continue that pace in 2008.
According to Manning, Hair had a very good preseason training camp and should be a featured player in the Ute attack, no matter what formation they play in.
Players Mentioned
F
/ Soccer
Forward
/ Soccer
F
/ Soccer
GK
/ Soccer
GK
/ Soccer
M
/ Soccer
GK
/ SoccerUtah Soccer's Ryann Cull - ESPN+ Feature
Sunday, October 26
Utah Soccer's Bella Woods - ESPN+ Feature
Thursday, October 23
Utah Soccer's Erin Gibbs - ESPN+ Feature
Thursday, October 16
Utah Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2025 | Soccer's Ashley Mason
Monday, October 13