Completed Event: Soccer versus BYU on October 30, 2025 , Loss , 0, to, 2
Final Score
Soccer
0
vs BYU
2
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The University of Utah Athletics
Utah Soccer Hosts Alumni Game Saturday
3/31/2009 12:00 AM | Soccer
March 31, 2009
SALT LAKE CITY - The University of Utah soccer team will host its annual Alumni Game at Ute Field Saturday at 11 a.m. The Utes will then continue their spring exhibition season at home against Utah State, Wednesday, April 8 at 7 p.m. That game was originally scheduled for April 1, but was moved due to weather and field conditions.
"We have a lot of alumni coming back Saturday and we should have a great turnout," said Utah head coach Rich Manning. "Our current players are excited to see their old friends and teammates, this is always a fun day."
Utah opened its spring exhibition slate last weekend with a trip to Las Vegas, Nev., where the Utes played 70-minute contests against BYU and UNLV. The Utes fell to the Cougars, 2-1, then played to a 0-0 draw against the host Rebels.
"Overall I was very pleased with parts of our game and the spirit of the team," said Manning. "We battled hard, showed flashes of the fast-paced soccer we want to play, and got the spring off to a good start against solid competition. We still have to work on our match speed and fitness, clean it up a little in the back and work on turning possessions into scoring chances."
Utah's only goal on the day came off the foot of sophomore striker Lauren Hair (Alpine, Utah). With the Utes trailing 2-0 in the 65th minute, Hair made one of her signature runs down the right flank, cut to the inside and got off a shot that found the goal, through the keeper's legs. Utah had a couple other good chances in the second half, including a shot from sophomore forward Erin Dalley (Centerville, Utah) that was saved and another from freshman midfielder Kellie Woodfield (Provo, Utah) which was blocked by a defender.
"Similar to the regular season last fall, I thought we played much better in the second half," said Manning. "They scored early and we didn't bounce back until the second half and you can't do that against BYU. We finally settled down, moved the ball and created some chances, which was good for us.
"In the next game we played a good first half, had solid control and played with tempo like the end of the BYU game," Manning added. "That's the way we need to play. We had a couple of good chances, but with only 15 minutes between games and playing in the heat, we ran out of gas toward the end."
The trip also saw the return of four players from significant injuries: Dalley, who redshirted the 2008 fall season after undergoing knee surgery, saw her first collegiate action since 2007; freshman midfielder Katie Martinez (Littleton, Colo.) and freshman striker Anne Shallenberger (Orem, Utah) got back to the pitch after both had surgery to address compartment syndrome in the offseason; and freshman goalkeeper Hannah Turpen (San Clemente, Calif.) played the entire first game after coming back from an injured knee suffered at the conclusion of the fall season.
"There was certainly some rust out there but each of those players showed flashes of their best quality and we hope to build on that over the next few days," said Manning. "They all played hard, there were no additional setbacks and they all got to feel what it was like to get back into the game."
Another highlight of the weekend was the play of freshman goalkeeper Shay Kennedy (Murray, Utah), who played the entire second game and kept a clean sheet against UNLV. It was her first game action on the collegiate level.
"Shay got to play her first college minutes and was good for us," said Manning. "The most positive thing was that she got experience and played well. It's a testament to her hard work that she was able to have a good showing when given a chance to step in."
Utah's remaining spring schedule:
April 4 (Sat) Alumni Game Salt Lake City - Ute Field 11 a.m. 8 (Wed) Utah State Salt Lake City - Ute Field 7 p.m.11 (Sat) at BYU Provo, Utah TBA18 (Sat) vs. Oregon Beaverton, Ore. (Nike Campus) TBA19 (Sun) vs. Seattle Beaverton, Ore. (Nike Campus) TBA
Players Mentioned
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