Utah Soccer Welcomes Denver and Illinois State to Ute Field

Thursday, August 25

Salt Lake City, UT

7:00 PM

University of Utah

Denver

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Photo by: Hunter Dyke/Utah Athletics

Utah Soccer Welcomes Denver and Illinois State to Ute Field

8/23/2022 4:39 PM | Soccer

Game Notes

The Utes hosts Denver on Thursday and Illinois State on Sunday.

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah women's soccer team continues its homestand this week when they host Denver on Thursday at 7 p.m. and close out the week by hosting Illinois State at 6 p.m. on Sunday. Both matches will take place at Ute Field.

THURSDAY'S MATCHUP
Date | Time: Thursday, Aug. 25 | 7 p.m. (MT)
Utah (1-0-1) vs. Denver (2-0-0)
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah | Ute Field
Live Stats: Click Here
Live Stream: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @UtahWSoccer

SUNDAY'S MATCHUP
Date | Time: Sunday, Aug. 28 | 6 p.m. (MT)
Utah (1-0-1) vs. Illinois State (0-2-0)
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah | Ute Field
Live Stats: Click Here
Live Stream: Click Here
Twitter Updates: @UtahWSoccer

Game Day Promotions
Join us at Ute Field for our Inclusion Game on Thursday night when we take on Denver. We will be handing out U belong stickers while supplies last. On Sunday, it is the End of the Summer Bash. We will have soccer bingo during the contest and a post-game autograph session with the team.

Scouting Denver
The Pioneers of the University of Denver enter this week with a 2-0-0 record. They are coming off a 2-0 over Weber State on Sunday. Denver is coming off back-to-back shutouts on the season and went 144 minutes before allowing its first shot on target of the year, and they have not allowed a corner kick. Jadyn Goodrich leads the team with three points on the season. She has one goal, and one assist this season. Her goal came during the 1-0 victory over San Diego to open the season. Also adding a goal for the Pioneers this season are McKenna Dannenhauer and Kaitlyn Glover. Sami Feller leads the team with two assists. Nerea Arrazola has been the only Pioneer to appear in goal for the Pioneers this season. She hasn't allowed a goal and has three saves on the season. Denver was selected as the favorite to win the Summit League this season.

All Time Against Denver
Thursday night will be the fourth all-time meeting between these two schools. Utah is 1-0-0 when playing Denver at home and leads the all-time series 2-1-0.

Last Time Against Denver
Last season, the Utes traveled to Denver to take on the Pioneers, and the University of Denver came away with a 3-0 victory over the Utes. Utah had 11 shots in the contest and forced the Pioneers' defense to defend as Utah controlled possession for 56 percent of the match. With the offensive pressure the Utes put on Denver, Utah took five corner kicks in the game. Courtney Talbot led the team with three shots.

Scouting Illinois State
The Redbirds will play two games in Utah this week as they play at Utah State on Thursday night before coming to Ute Field to play the Utes. Illinois State is led by first-year head coach Marisa Kresge, who was hired on May 23 to lead the Redbird program. The Redbirds are 0-2-0 on the season after falling to Illinois 1-0 and Eastern Michigan, 4-0, this past weekend. Katelynn Buescher and Kristiana Pappanastos lead the team with three shots on this season. Illinois State has 12 newcomers to its 2022 roster, including three transfers and nine true freshmen. The staff additions of Kresge and assistant coach Riley Butler only add to the list of newcomers within the program. Nearly half of the Illinois State's 27-player roster was not with the team a year ago when the Utes made the trip to Normal.

All Time Against Illinois State
When the Redbirds and Utes square off on Sunday, it will be the fourth meeting of all time between these two programs. The Utes hold a 3-0-0 record against Illinois State. It will mark the first home match for Utah against Illinois State.

Last Time Against Illinois State
Utah pitched its second shutout of the 2021 season as they defeated the Redbirds of Illinois State, 1-0. The Utes recorded back-to-back shutouts for the first time since the 2019 season. Utah scored the only goal in the game in the 20th minute of the match when Taliana Kaufusi scored her second goal of the season. Utah outshot Illinois State 15-8 in the game, and Utah held possession for 61 percent of the match. The backline for the Utes stood tall as they limited the Redbirds to only one shot on goal.

Multigoal Performance
Junior Taliana Kaufusi had her first multigoal performance of her career for the Utes in the season opener at Portland. She was the first Ute to score twice in a game since Anna Escobedo had two goals on March 12, 2021, in an upset victory over No. 14 USC. Kaufusi's goals lifted the Utes to a 2-2 tie.

First Career Goals
In the Utes' win over Colorado State, Utah had two players score their first collegiate goals. Madeline Vergura and Brooklyn Blaylock scored their first of many collegiate goals. How many Utes will score the first goals of their career this season?

Winning at Home
The Utes are winning .589 percent of their home games since the 2016 season. Utah has won 29 home wins since 2016 and has not had a losing season at home. The Utes opened their home schedule on Sunday and defeated Colorado State, 3-0. Sunday was the first of 11 games at Ute Field. The Utes won eight home games during the 2016 season, the most during this span.

NCAA Appearances
Entering the 2022 season, the Utes will look for their ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Utes last went to the NCAA Tournament during the 2019 season. Utah's best finish in the NCAA Tournament was 2016 when they reached the Sweet 16.

Pac-12 Opener
Utah will play eight non-conference matchups before they get into conference play. Utah will open conference play on Friday, Sept. 23, when they host Arizona at Ute Field. Utah will finish the season with 11 conference games. The Utes close out Pac-12 play on Friday, Nov. 4, at Colorado.

New Name, Same Face
Returning to the team this year is Courtney Talbot. However, this year she will be Courtney Brown. Last season, Brown led the team in goals (5) and points (11). Her five goals were a career-high. She has eight career goals. Last year her five goals came in five different games. Her biggest goal of the season came when she scored to earn a draw against No. 3 UCLA.

New Year, New Staff
The 2022 Utes will have a new look this season as they have a new member on their staff. Head coach Hideki Nakada announced on Monday the hiring of Nuno Gourgel as the new volunteer assistant coach. Gourgel comes to Utah after spending the last year at Utah Valley University. Before Utah Valley, Gourgel was an assistant coach with Robert Morris University's women's soccer program. Gourgel's coaching credentials include four seasons as the men's and women's head coach at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. He started both programs and won 108 games combined during his four seasons, including a 59-7-11 (.837) record with the women.

Preseason Pac-12 Coaches' Poll
Last Wednesday, the Pac-12 Conference announced the Coaches' Preseason Poll. The Cardinal of Stanford University was picked as the preseason favorite to win the league, while the Utes were picked to finish ninth.

Next Up
Utah will play its fourth and fifth straight home matches when they host Cal State Fullerton (Sept. 1, 7 p.m.) and Alabama (Sept. 4, 6 p.m.) at Ute Field.

FOLLOW THE UTES!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UtahWSoccer | Instagram: @UtahWSoccer | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utahwsoccer).