Utah Soccer Succumbs to Washington State, 4-2

Sunday, October 26

Salt Lake City, Utah

1:00 PM

University of Utah

8-5-4, 1-5-2

Washington State

10-2-3, 5-2-1

Washington State

Utah

10/26/2014 12:00 AM | Soccer

Box Score

Oct. 26, 2014

Final Stats | Photo Gallery

SALT LAKE CITY - Utah soccer suffered a 4-2 loss to Washington State on Sunday afternoon at Ute Field. Despite goals from Avery Jenkins and Natalie Vukic, the Utes had no answer for the Cougars.

"Today was extremely disappointing from our team," head coach Rich Manning said. "We did not perform to our standards in many areas. Credit to Washington State for putting pressure on our defense with some fantastic finishing. It's now up to us to take these lessons and regroup for our games next weekend."

WSU started things off by scoring in the fourth minute as a cross from Kourtney Guetlein found Kaitlyn Johnson for a tap in and a 1-0 lead. Despite allowing the early goal, Utah worked hard to tie things up.

Jenkins did a fantastic job putting pressure on Cougar goalkeeper Gurveen Clair, forcing a save, missing just high and seeing a try deflected by a defender. After Lindsey Luke stopped Johnson, Jenkins was able to get a fourth try at goal in the first 15 minutes.

WSU capitalized in the 25th minute as Guetlein was able to collect a deflected pass from Johnson and chip it past Luke for a 2-0 lead.

Megan Trabert tried her luck from distance in the 34th minute and after a foul, Utah sliced the deficit in half when Jenkins buried a free-kick from 25 yards out. For the senior midfielder, it was her second goal of the season.

The momentum was short-lived as WSU earned a corner and after a giveaway in the penalty area, Chelsea Harkins scored to make it 3-1 to the visitors. The Cougars added a fourth before halftime when Jocelyn Jeffers' free-kick from straight on was hit along the ground, left of the wall and past Luke.

In the second half, Utah created some life when Katie Taylor slid a ball through to Vukic and the freshman poked home her third goal of the season in the 73rd minute.

Taylor came close to making it a one-goal game but was stopped by Clair four minutes later. Off a Jenkins' corner, Cabria Turang narrowly missed wide in the 79th minute. In the 88th, Jenkins had one last try to keep things interesting, but could not get the try on frame.

Utah plays its final games at home next weekend, starting with Arizona on Friday. The Utes and Wildcats play on Halloween at 1 p.m. on the Pac-12 Networks.