Utah Soccer Streak Ended by No. 18 Washington, 1-0

Friday, October 24

Salt Lake City, Utah

7:00 PM

University of Utah

8-4-4, 1-4-2

Washington

12-4-0, 5-2-0

Washington

Utah

Utah Soccer Streak Ended by No. 18 Washington, 1-0

10/24/2014 12:00 AM | Soccer

Box Score

Oct. 24, 2014

Final Stats

SALT LAKE CITY - Utah soccer's 18-match unbeaten streak at home came to an end this evening with a 1-0 loss to No. 18 Washington.

"We came out with a lot of energy and really took it to them in the first half I thought," senior Katie Taylor said. "We were aggressive from the start tonight and I thought we created some good chances because of that early."

"It was good to get back on our home field and that showed in the effort of our team this evening," head coach Rich Manning said. "We were prepared for this game and credit to Washington for finishing their chance. We still have a really lot to play for so it's important to keep our heads up while learning the important lessons from each game. We're excited to have another chance on Sunday."

After Lindsey Luke stopped Amanda Perez early, Utah had two chances of a corner kick opportunity. UW goalkeeper Megan Kufeld stopped Ali Allen and Mikayla Elmer from capitalizing and kept the match scoreless. Utah continued to press as Taylor narrowly missed putting her team in front in the 25th minute. After Luke denied Kate Bennett, Kufeld was there once again to turn away Allen at the other end.

Luke kept the game knotted heading into the break as the Huskies worked two good chances in the final five minutes via Perez and Bennett

"I thought we played really well in the first half and had momentum going into the second half," Taylor said. "We missed some chances, I missed a chance, and they capitalized on theirs. Once they scored, it seemed to fire them up and we kept working hard to get that goal."

Out of the break, Avery Jenkins missed a try wide before Taylor had an attempt held by Kufeld. Finally, in the 60th minute, Washington found the first and only goal via Jaclyn Softli. Shannon Simon's cross from the right popped up into the penalty area before landing right in front of goal. An opportunistic Softli scored her 10th goal of the season for a 1-0 lead.

Washington almost doubled its lead but Luke stopped Bennett for a third time and Taylor put one over the bar for the Utes as she tried to tie things up.

Utah poured forward in the final five minutes of regulation searching for that elusive goal. Kufeld maintained her shutout by snuffing out a Jill Robison try but watched helplessly as a Taylor try whizzed just over her head in the waning seconds.

Utah is back in action on Sunday when it hosts No. 24 Washington State at 1 p.m. It will be the third-straight top-25 opponent for the Utes and sixth in Pac-12 play.