Utah Soccer Ready to Roll in Match Against Utah State

Wednesday, August 28

Salt Lake City, UT

7 p.m.

University of Utah

#19 Utah State

Soccer

Photo by: Sophia Kuder/Utah Athletics

Utah Soccer Ready to Roll in Match Against Utah State

8/26/2024 2:24 PM | Soccer

Game Notes

Utes to host the undefeated Aggies for Wednesday Night match

SALT LAKE CITY -- After recording their first draw of the season, the University of Utah women's soccer team will face off with the undefeated Utah State Aggies on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Ute Field.

WEDNESDAY'S MATCHUP
Date | Time: Wednesday, August 28 |7 p.m. (MT)
Utah (1-0-1) vs. Utah State (3-0)
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah | Ute Field
Live Stats: Click Here
Live Broadcast: Click Here
Broadcasters: Jacob Suomi and Brooke Hale-Stream
Twitter Updates: @UtahWSoccer

Game Day Promotions
Utah's Community Heroes Night. All active duty or retired military, first responders, health care workers and family will receive discounted admission. Click here for discounted tickets, they will only be available online at this link-- all walk-up, in person and sales over the phone will be full price. Along with Community Heroes Night, the first 150 fans at the game will receive a University of Utah water bottle and the first 100 students will get a $10 food voucher for Yoshi's Japanese Grill.

All Aggie Info
This is far from the first time the Utes and Aggies will face off, Wednesday's game will be the 16^th match between the two Utah schools. Utah is currently sitting on a four-game win streak against Utah State. Since they first met on the pitch in 2004, the Utes have been victorious 12 times, the last loss being in 2015.

The Aggies are led by Manny Martins, the 2023 Mountain West Coach of the year. After a successful third season. Martins is starting his fourth season with Utah State. In 2023, the team went 14-8-1 overall with a 9-2 record in conference play. They won their first ever Mountain West title and made their third-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

The Aggies are currently undefeated with a 3-0 record after taking down the reigning Big 12 regular season champions, Texas Tech, 2-0. All three games have been shutouts, the first time since 2013, with the last time the Aggies were 3-0 being the same year. This home-opening win means Utah State is 4-0 in home-openers under Martins.

In her first start for Utah State, freshman forward/midfielder Austin Miller also scored the first goal in her collegiate career in the 15^th minute. The next goal was in the 27^th minute from junior forward Tess Werts. Recording six saves in the goal, sophomore Shay Kercher-Pratt started for the second time in her career and played all 90 minutes.

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.

Bella Brings Home the Hardware
After her game-winning score against Gonzaga, Woods was recognized as the first Big 12 Freshman of the Week of 2024. She's the first Ute to earn a conference weekly award since Katie O'Kane in Oct. of 2023.

Two Goals for Taliana
Taliana Kaufusi found the back of the net for the second straight match on Thursday after netting her team's first goal of the season on Aug. 15 against Gonzaga. Kaufusi is the first Ute to start the season with goals in each of the squad's first two contests since Chelsea Forbes in 2009.

On the Board Early
The Utes haven't wasted any time getting on the scoreboard in their first two tilts of 2024. In both matches, they've tallied a goal with the first 10 minutes. The last time the Utes accomplished that feat in consecutive contests was in Oct. of 2018, when Holly Daugirda knocked in a goal in the ninth minute against Oregon State, followed one match later by a seventh minute score courtesy of Paola van der Veen.

Stacking Up Shots
The Utes established a heavy advantage in total shots against GCU, outshooting their guests by a 14-3 margin. Utah could only boast of such a significant advantage in that statistic four times in 2023, the largest being a 32-12 margin in their win over Oregon.

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.

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.

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.

2024 Schedule
After Wednesday's match, Utah will host one more game at Ute Field before traveling to LSU on Sept. 5. This four- match home stretch will kick off a schedule where the Utes play at home a total of 11 times. This season, Utah will face off against two ranked teams, BYU and Texas Tech, and a match against TCU who is receiving votes nationally. The Ute's first Big 12 match will take place at Ute Field on Sept. 12, where they'll square off with the Arizona Wildcats.

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.

The list of new league foes the Utes will have to contend with include a Texas Tech team that won the conference's regular season title, then reached the third round of the NCAA Tournament, as well as a BYU squad that reached the College Cup for the second time in three seasons. Utah will also be taking the field against Iowa State and Kansas State for the first time in program history.

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.

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.

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.

Tickets
Season tickets for 2024 are currently on sale, with single-match tickets going on sale on Aug. 12. Tickets can be purchased by visiting utahtickets.com/soccer/. All ticket sales are cashless and all tickets are digital, including MUSS Tickets. Pre-purchasing tickets will allow fans to obtain the best price. Those on the Utah player pass list will have their tickets added to their account associated with the email provided by the student-athletes.

To ensure a successful experience with digital ticketing, fans are encouraged to download their tickets to the wallet on their smartphone for presentation upon arrival at the stadium gates to expedite the entry process. Ticket sales and customer service will be available at the ticket office near the main entrance.

Next Up
The Utes will start September off at home with another in-state opponent, Weber State, at Ute Field on Sept. 1 at 6 p.m.

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.