SALT LAKE CITY – Despite a stout performance from its back line, the University of Utah women's soccer team ended up on the short end of a 1-0 decision against the No. 3 Stanford Cardinal in Pac-12 Conference action on Sunday afternoon at Ute Field in Salt Lake City.
Utah's record now stands at 5-4-5 and they are 1-2-2 in conference, while Stanford is 12-0-1 and 5-0 league fixtures.
"I'm really proud of the effort put forth by our team against a fantastic Stanford squad today," said head coach
Hideki Nakada. "I felt it was a pretty evenly played match overall and we deserved a better result in the end. I thought the team executed the game plan well and it came down to Stanford punishing us on our turnover and us not being able to take advantage of limited opportunities we created. Again, I could not be more proud of our effort today and I am excited to see what we can do with another great opportunity next week."
After each team had an early opportunity on a corner kick turned away, the Cardinal broke the scoreless tie when a Maryn Wolf cross found Andrea Kitahata on the left side of the box and her right-footed shot was deflected in in the 11th minute.
The Utes put their first shot of the match on goal moments after Stanford moved in front, but a save by Ryan Campbell kept her team's lead intact. While the Cardinal did rack up six more tries in the first half, the Utah defense kept their guests from adding to their lead and the match went to the break with the Utes still within striking distance.
The first two shots of the final period were both by the home squad, but neither one was on frame and Utah then spent a stretch of seven minutes fending off Stanford chances, including four corner kicks and three shots, the last of which was saved by goalkeeper
Kasey Wardle. The sophomore would add one more before the day was done.
Utah put together two more scoring threats in the final 10 minutes, but the first one ended with a
Kennedy Schoennauer shot that was denied by Campbell. The home side earned one more corner kick in the 90th minute, but once again, Campbell snatched the ball out of the air to bring the match to a close.
The Cardinal ended the afternoon with a 14-5 edge in shots and the visitors also led in on-target opportunities, 4-2. Schoennauer led the Utes in shots for the second straight match, collecting a pair, while Wardle picked up three saves in goal.
Up Next
Utah's next opportunity will be on the road on Friday, when they visit the UCLA Bruins.
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