Upcoming Event: Soccer at #10 Baylor on October 19, 2025 at 12 p.m.
12 p.m.
Soccer
at #10 Baylor
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The University of Utah Athletics
Friday, October 25
Boulder, CO
7 p.m.
University of Utah
at
Colorado
Utah Soccer Travels to Boulder to Close Out Regular Season
10/23/2024 5:20 PM | Soccer
The Utes take on previously ranked Buffaloes for final match
SALT LAKE CITY - After shutting out both University of Houston and Baylor University, the University of Utah women's soccer program will finalize their regular season at the University of Colorado on Friday evening at 7 p.m. at Prentup Field. Â
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Scouting the Buffs
Previously members of the Pac-12 Conference, the matchup between Utah and Colorado has been recurring annually since 2011, but originally began in 1988. The last faceoff took place at Ute Field and ended in a Buffalo win, 3-2 on Nov. 3 of the 2023 season. At the helm of the program, sits Danny Sanchez, who is going into his 13th season with the Buffs. Though it's not Sanchez's first rodeo, the team is undergoing its first season in the Big 12 conference.
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The Buffs are currently carrying a 4-2-4 record in conference regular season play and are sitting in sixth in the Big 12 standings. Last season Colorado made it to the first round of NCAA Tournament, their seventh appearance under Sanchez's guidance. In their last match, they took on West Virginia, where they fell 2-0. Before the Mountaineers, the Buffs had back-to-back scoreless draws with Cincinnati and UCF.
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Fifth year forward Shyla James is currently leading the squad in goals, marking six so far this season after earning a hattrick in a 5-1 win over Wyoming. A team of helpers, Colorado has 14 different players who have tallied an assist. Â In the net, junior goalkeeper Jordan Nytes has been in the box every game this season and has earned ten shutouts for the Buffs, five of which were conference rivals. Over the 17-game schedule, Nytes has faced 219 shots, but only allowed 13 goals.
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Shutdown on Ute Field
The Utes earned back-to-back shutouts for the second time this season after hosting Houston on Oct. 17 and Baylor on Oct. 20. Facing off with the Cougars, Kelly Bullock was the sole scorer of the match, earning her first goal of the season off a bump from Katie Callaway, and putting Utah up 1-0 for the win.
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On the pitch with the Bears, Bullock was, again, the first point on the board. After a cross from Devi Dudley, Taliana Kaufusi headed the ball high and wide, but Bullock was in the right place and was able to boot it into the net. In the 88th minute, Blum came in with the nail in the coffin. Collecting a chip from Katie O'Kane, Blum carried the ball downfield and shot the ball into the left corner, sealing the deal for the Utes, 2-0.
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Slay-lock on the Defense
Brooklyn Blaylock was named Big 12 co-Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Utes to two conference shutouts and a crucial play against the Bears. With the Utes up one nil, Baylor headed a corner kick towards the goal, but Blaylock was there to bump it out enough that Kasey Wardle could punch it away, keeping the Bears scoreless. The Salt Lake City native is the fourth Ute to earn a weekly award, but the first recipient for defense. The last player to be awarded the weekly defensive title was Maryn Granger in 2022 after her role in a 2-1 triumph over Arizona.
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Kelly's Goal Book
Kelly Bullock earned her first season goal during the match against Houston and pushing the Utes to their first shutout of the weekend. She quickly followed up that performance with another goal on Sunday against Baylor, recording a second back-to-back game where she is responsible for putting the Utes ahead.
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Top 100
In the recent Top Drawer rankings, graduate forward Taliana Kaufusi is ranked #99 college soccer player in the nation and freshman midfielder Bella Woods currently sits at #69 in Freshmen college players in the nation.
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Sometimes You Just Need a Lil Help
Lilliah Blum contributed two assists during the match against Arizona State, one to Kaufusi and one to Callaway, marking it the second match this season that Blum has assisted in two goals on the pitch. She first accomplished this feat on Sept. 1st against Weber State and is the first Ute to tally multiple games with multiple helpers since Jenny Hutton in 2013. Blum is tied for the third-most assists in the Big 12 with Tyler Isgrig from Baylor and Arizona State's Enasia Colon.Â
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Taliana is at the Top
Taliana Kaufusi's ten goals currently have her alone atop the Big 12 leaderboard, one more than TCU's Seven Castain and UCF's Chloe Netzel, and tied for eleventh in the nation. Kaufusi's ten scores have also boosted her career total in that statistic to 27, becoming the sole fifth-most all-time in program history. This puts her just behind Shauna Gurr-Bingham, Class of 2002, who tallied 30 in her four years.
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Sun Devils Fall
Utah visited ASU for a road conference game, defeating the Sun Devils on their home pitch 4-1 on Oct. 4. Goals from Kaufusi, O'Kane, Blum and Callaway contributed to the Ute's second Big 12 win, first Big 12 win on the road. Four goals is twice as many as ASU had allowed in any match in 2024 before Friday, and it's the highest total they've allowed at home since a 4-3 defeat against UCLA in 2021.
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Re-Joyce for Callaway
After tallying an assist and her first career goal against Arizona State, Katie Callaway, often referred to as "Joyce" by her teammates, was named Big 12 Freshman Player of the Week. Callaway is the third Ute to receive a conference weekly award and second to be named Freshman of the Week this season.
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We Aim to Assist
So far in 2024, 15 different Utes have at least one assist to their credit. That's the highest total in a season for the Utes since 2009, when they had 14 players tally an assist.
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Early Birds
In five of the matches this season, the Utes got on the board within the first 10 minutes. Taliana Kaufusi accomplished this feat against Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, LSU and ASU, while Katie O'Kane added a 10th minute goal against Weber State.
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Downing the Wildcats
Utah defeated the University of Arizona Wildcats in the schools' Big 12 season opener, 1-0 on Sept. 12 at Ute Field. The last time the Utes met with the Wildcats was on Oct. 29 in Arizona for a Pac-12 conference matchup and Utah fell 1-0 after hitting an own goal.
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Tali the Mad Hatter
Taliana Kaufusi recorded her second hat trick of the campaign eight games after the Utes beat Idaho State, 4-1 on Sept. 15. Her first hat trick this season came against Weber State on Sept. 1. Kaufusi is the first Ute to accomplish this feat in 28 years. The first Ute to claim this was Jackie Doman in the 1996 season. Her second hat trick netted her the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Week award.
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Hats Off
On Sept. 1 against Weber State, for the first time on record in program history, two Utes tallied hat tricks in the same match. Both Katie O'Kane and Taliana Kaufusi booted in three goals in a 7-1 rout of the Wildcats. For O'Kane, this marked her second collegiate hat trick, the first coming on Oct. 1, 2023 at Oregon, while it was the first for Kaufusi.
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If She Could, She Wood
In the ninetieth minute of Utah's season opener, freshman midfielder Bella Woods earned a free kick off a handball from Gonzaga. With pressure to take the lead of the tied game, Woods's shot curled around the Bulldogs' defenders and into the back of the net, earning the win for the Utes.
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Bella Brings Home the Hardware
After her game-winning score against Gonzaga, Woods was recognized as the first Big 12 Freshman of the Week in 2024. She's the first Ute to earn a conference weekly award since Katie O'Kane in Oct. of 2023.
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2024 Utah Women's Soccer Roster
Coach Hideki Nakada has assembled a squad that consists of 13 returners and 12 newcomers. The list of players back in Utah Red include 2023 leading scorer Katie O'Kane and Taliana Kaufusi, who topped the team in goals in 2022. Brooklyn Blaylock and 2023 assists leader Kelly Bullock have also returned after starting all 20 matches a season ago, as has Kasey Wardle, who finished as one of the conference leaders in saves as a sophomore.
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Among the many new Utes on Nakada's roster are true freshmen Callie Blaylock, Londyn Lovell, Mia Paugh, Siena Zunino, Katie Callaway and Bella Ganiere. The Utah staff also added six transfers, including sophomore Landen Matthews, junior Erin Gibbs, senior Devi Dudley and graduate students Grace Watkins, Rachel Bastone and Ava Hetzel.
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NCAA Appearances
The Utes are heading into 2024 aiming for their ninth NCAA Tournament berth and their first since 2019. Utah's best showing the national postseason occurred in 2016, when victories over Texas Tech and Florida State propelled them to the Sweet 16.
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New Conference, Same Utes
The 2024 campaign will be Utah's first as members of the Big 12, the fourth different conference the Utes have competed in since the program's inception as members of the WAC in 1995. Utah posted a 7-8-2 mark during that initial season, then went 13-7 in 1999 when they played in the Mountain West Conference for the first time. Their first foray into Pac-12 play was in 2011, when they finished 10-9-1.
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New Year, New Staff
In addition to the new faces on the field for the Utes, coach Hideki Nakada also added two new coaches to his staff.
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Assistant coach Travis Smith officially came on board in January after three seasons at Kansas, where he helped the Jayhawks rack up 20 victories, including wins over squads ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation. Smith also spent time at Brandeis High School, where his pupils included three all-state and seven all-region selections. He helped the squad to a district title in 2018 and, two years later, the Broncos finished the season ranked at No. 9 in the state.
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Fellow assistant Jackie Poortinga was hired in May after a busy last several years that included functioning as Phoenix Rising's Director of Goalkeeping, a position she's held since 2021. Her
responsibilities there included overseeing the development of the organization's goalkeepers, developing and implementing the team's goalkeeper training curriculum and identifying talent for the purposes of improving the roster. She also functioned as an Assistant Goalkeeper Coach for the Phoenix Rising FC Men's USL Championship team.
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Next Up
The Utes will play their final match on their home pitch, taking on the Baylor Bears on Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. at Ute Field.
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Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UtahWSoccer | Instagram: @UtahWSoccer | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utahwsoccer), and the official mobile app of Utah Athletics, Utah360 -- download here.
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| FRIDAY'S MATCHUP Date | Time:Â Friday, Oct. 25 | 7:00 p.m. Utah (6-5-4) vs. Colorado (10-3-4) Location:Â Salt Lake City, Utah | Ute Field Live Stats:Â Click Here TV: ESPN+ Click Here Twitter Updates:Â @UtahWSoccer |
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Scouting the Buffs
Previously members of the Pac-12 Conference, the matchup between Utah and Colorado has been recurring annually since 2011, but originally began in 1988. The last faceoff took place at Ute Field and ended in a Buffalo win, 3-2 on Nov. 3 of the 2023 season. At the helm of the program, sits Danny Sanchez, who is going into his 13th season with the Buffs. Though it's not Sanchez's first rodeo, the team is undergoing its first season in the Big 12 conference.
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The Buffs are currently carrying a 4-2-4 record in conference regular season play and are sitting in sixth in the Big 12 standings. Last season Colorado made it to the first round of NCAA Tournament, their seventh appearance under Sanchez's guidance. In their last match, they took on West Virginia, where they fell 2-0. Before the Mountaineers, the Buffs had back-to-back scoreless draws with Cincinnati and UCF.
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Fifth year forward Shyla James is currently leading the squad in goals, marking six so far this season after earning a hattrick in a 5-1 win over Wyoming. A team of helpers, Colorado has 14 different players who have tallied an assist. Â In the net, junior goalkeeper Jordan Nytes has been in the box every game this season and has earned ten shutouts for the Buffs, five of which were conference rivals. Over the 17-game schedule, Nytes has faced 219 shots, but only allowed 13 goals.
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Shutdown on Ute Field
The Utes earned back-to-back shutouts for the second time this season after hosting Houston on Oct. 17 and Baylor on Oct. 20. Facing off with the Cougars, Kelly Bullock was the sole scorer of the match, earning her first goal of the season off a bump from Katie Callaway, and putting Utah up 1-0 for the win.
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On the pitch with the Bears, Bullock was, again, the first point on the board. After a cross from Devi Dudley, Taliana Kaufusi headed the ball high and wide, but Bullock was in the right place and was able to boot it into the net. In the 88th minute, Blum came in with the nail in the coffin. Collecting a chip from Katie O'Kane, Blum carried the ball downfield and shot the ball into the left corner, sealing the deal for the Utes, 2-0.
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Slay-lock on the Defense
Brooklyn Blaylock was named Big 12 co-Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Utes to two conference shutouts and a crucial play against the Bears. With the Utes up one nil, Baylor headed a corner kick towards the goal, but Blaylock was there to bump it out enough that Kasey Wardle could punch it away, keeping the Bears scoreless. The Salt Lake City native is the fourth Ute to earn a weekly award, but the first recipient for defense. The last player to be awarded the weekly defensive title was Maryn Granger in 2022 after her role in a 2-1 triumph over Arizona.
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Kelly's Goal Book
Kelly Bullock earned her first season goal during the match against Houston and pushing the Utes to their first shutout of the weekend. She quickly followed up that performance with another goal on Sunday against Baylor, recording a second back-to-back game where she is responsible for putting the Utes ahead.
Â
Top 100
In the recent Top Drawer rankings, graduate forward Taliana Kaufusi is ranked #99 college soccer player in the nation and freshman midfielder Bella Woods currently sits at #69 in Freshmen college players in the nation.
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Sometimes You Just Need a Lil Help
Lilliah Blum contributed two assists during the match against Arizona State, one to Kaufusi and one to Callaway, marking it the second match this season that Blum has assisted in two goals on the pitch. She first accomplished this feat on Sept. 1st against Weber State and is the first Ute to tally multiple games with multiple helpers since Jenny Hutton in 2013. Blum is tied for the third-most assists in the Big 12 with Tyler Isgrig from Baylor and Arizona State's Enasia Colon.Â
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Taliana is at the Top
Taliana Kaufusi's ten goals currently have her alone atop the Big 12 leaderboard, one more than TCU's Seven Castain and UCF's Chloe Netzel, and tied for eleventh in the nation. Kaufusi's ten scores have also boosted her career total in that statistic to 27, becoming the sole fifth-most all-time in program history. This puts her just behind Shauna Gurr-Bingham, Class of 2002, who tallied 30 in her four years.
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Sun Devils Fall
Utah visited ASU for a road conference game, defeating the Sun Devils on their home pitch 4-1 on Oct. 4. Goals from Kaufusi, O'Kane, Blum and Callaway contributed to the Ute's second Big 12 win, first Big 12 win on the road. Four goals is twice as many as ASU had allowed in any match in 2024 before Friday, and it's the highest total they've allowed at home since a 4-3 defeat against UCLA in 2021.
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Re-Joyce for Callaway
After tallying an assist and her first career goal against Arizona State, Katie Callaway, often referred to as "Joyce" by her teammates, was named Big 12 Freshman Player of the Week. Callaway is the third Ute to receive a conference weekly award and second to be named Freshman of the Week this season.
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We Aim to Assist
So far in 2024, 15 different Utes have at least one assist to their credit. That's the highest total in a season for the Utes since 2009, when they had 14 players tally an assist.
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Early Birds
In five of the matches this season, the Utes got on the board within the first 10 minutes. Taliana Kaufusi accomplished this feat against Gonzaga, Grand Canyon, LSU and ASU, while Katie O'Kane added a 10th minute goal against Weber State.
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Downing the Wildcats
Utah defeated the University of Arizona Wildcats in the schools' Big 12 season opener, 1-0 on Sept. 12 at Ute Field. The last time the Utes met with the Wildcats was on Oct. 29 in Arizona for a Pac-12 conference matchup and Utah fell 1-0 after hitting an own goal.
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Tali the Mad Hatter
Taliana Kaufusi recorded her second hat trick of the campaign eight games after the Utes beat Idaho State, 4-1 on Sept. 15. Her first hat trick this season came against Weber State on Sept. 1. Kaufusi is the first Ute to accomplish this feat in 28 years. The first Ute to claim this was Jackie Doman in the 1996 season. Her second hat trick netted her the Big 12's Offensive Player of the Week award.
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Hats Off
On Sept. 1 against Weber State, for the first time on record in program history, two Utes tallied hat tricks in the same match. Both Katie O'Kane and Taliana Kaufusi booted in three goals in a 7-1 rout of the Wildcats. For O'Kane, this marked her second collegiate hat trick, the first coming on Oct. 1, 2023 at Oregon, while it was the first for Kaufusi.
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If She Could, She Wood
In the ninetieth minute of Utah's season opener, freshman midfielder Bella Woods earned a free kick off a handball from Gonzaga. With pressure to take the lead of the tied game, Woods's shot curled around the Bulldogs' defenders and into the back of the net, earning the win for the Utes.
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Bella Brings Home the Hardware
After her game-winning score against Gonzaga, Woods was recognized as the first Big 12 Freshman of the Week in 2024. She's the first Ute to earn a conference weekly award since Katie O'Kane in Oct. of 2023.
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2024 Utah Women's Soccer Roster
Coach Hideki Nakada has assembled a squad that consists of 13 returners and 12 newcomers. The list of players back in Utah Red include 2023 leading scorer Katie O'Kane and Taliana Kaufusi, who topped the team in goals in 2022. Brooklyn Blaylock and 2023 assists leader Kelly Bullock have also returned after starting all 20 matches a season ago, as has Kasey Wardle, who finished as one of the conference leaders in saves as a sophomore.
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Among the many new Utes on Nakada's roster are true freshmen Callie Blaylock, Londyn Lovell, Mia Paugh, Siena Zunino, Katie Callaway and Bella Ganiere. The Utah staff also added six transfers, including sophomore Landen Matthews, junior Erin Gibbs, senior Devi Dudley and graduate students Grace Watkins, Rachel Bastone and Ava Hetzel.
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NCAA Appearances
The Utes are heading into 2024 aiming for their ninth NCAA Tournament berth and their first since 2019. Utah's best showing the national postseason occurred in 2016, when victories over Texas Tech and Florida State propelled them to the Sweet 16.
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New Conference, Same Utes
The 2024 campaign will be Utah's first as members of the Big 12, the fourth different conference the Utes have competed in since the program's inception as members of the WAC in 1995. Utah posted a 7-8-2 mark during that initial season, then went 13-7 in 1999 when they played in the Mountain West Conference for the first time. Their first foray into Pac-12 play was in 2011, when they finished 10-9-1.
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New Year, New Staff
In addition to the new faces on the field for the Utes, coach Hideki Nakada also added two new coaches to his staff.
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Assistant coach Travis Smith officially came on board in January after three seasons at Kansas, where he helped the Jayhawks rack up 20 victories, including wins over squads ranked as high as No. 9 in the nation. Smith also spent time at Brandeis High School, where his pupils included three all-state and seven all-region selections. He helped the squad to a district title in 2018 and, two years later, the Broncos finished the season ranked at No. 9 in the state.
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Fellow assistant Jackie Poortinga was hired in May after a busy last several years that included functioning as Phoenix Rising's Director of Goalkeeping, a position she's held since 2021. Her
responsibilities there included overseeing the development of the organization's goalkeepers, developing and implementing the team's goalkeeper training curriculum and identifying talent for the purposes of improving the roster. She also functioned as an Assistant Goalkeeper Coach for the Phoenix Rising FC Men's USL Championship team.
Â
Next Up
The Utes will play their final match on their home pitch, taking on the Baylor Bears on Oct. 20 at 1 p.m. at Ute Field.
Â
Follow the Utes!
Fans can follow along on social media (Twitter: @UtahWSoccer | Instagram: @UtahWSoccer | Facebook: Facebook.com/Utahwsoccer), and the official mobile app of Utah Athletics, Utah360 -- download here.
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Players Mentioned
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Midfielder
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DEF
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Forward
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Midfielder
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Midfielder
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DEF
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GK
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Defender
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DEF
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Forward
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MID
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FOR
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Forward
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Goalkeeper
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MID
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MID
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DEF
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