Utah Soccer at No. 24 USC and UCLA

October 22, 2015

Match-up: Utah at No. 24 USC
Date: Friday, Oct. 23
Kickoff: 2 p.m. PT 
Location: McAlister Stadium
Live Stats

Match-up: Utah at UCLA
Date: Sunday, Oct. 25
Kickoff: 1 p.m. PT 
Location: Drake Stadium
TV: Pac-12 Mountain and Pac-12 Los Angeles
Live Stats

Weekend at a Glance
Utah soccer (5-7-3, 2-4-0) wraps up a two-week road swing with contests at No. 24 USC (10-4-1, 5-1-0) and UCLA (6-7-1, 2-3-1). The Utes and Trojans play at 2 p.m. PT on Friday with the match against the Bruins on Sunday at 1 p.m. That game will be televised on the Pac-12 Mountain and Los Angeles networks.

Manning Makes History 
With the victory over Oregon State, Rich Manning earned his 150th career win at Utah. During his tenure, Manning has established Utah soccer as an elite program in the west.

Manning has coached the Utes to an NCAA Tournament berth in six of his years at the helm. Prior to joining the Pac-12, Manning directed Utah to three Mountain West Conference regular-season championships (2003, `05, `06) and a pair of league tournament titles (2003, `04).

Luke Leading the Way
Utah soccer’s Lindsey Luke was named the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week on October 6 for her performances in shutouts of Oregon State and Oregon.

Luke made three saves in the 1-0 victory over the Ducks and was then called into action six times against the Beavers. The goalkeeper helped the Utes capture consecutive shutouts against league opponents for the first time in two years.

No Utah player has earned more accolades from the Pac-12 in program history than Luke. This was the seventh time she has been named Goalkeeper of the Week and second time this season. An All-Pac-12 performer and NSCAA All-Region selection, Luke needs 30 saves and four shutouts this year to set the Utah career marks in both categories

She currently ranks second in the Pac-12 with 4.47 saves per contest and for her career, she ranks eighth nationally in saves (343), 12th in minutes played (6,454) and 15th in shutouts (24).

Last Weekend’s Result
Utah was defeated at No. 23 California, 2-0. The Utes have not scored in their last three contests, all against nationally-ranked conference opponents.

Trabert a Team Leader
During her four years at Utah, Megan Trabert has been a stalwart in defense. The team captain has started every game since arriving on campus, playing almost every minute in the process.

Last season she tied for the team lead with four goals and finished with three assists, giving her 10 points. Not only is she a fantastic player, but she also excels off the field, as she was selected to the CoSIDA Academic All-District team as well as being named a Pac-12 All-Academic choice for the second-straight year.

Megan’s grandfather, Tony, was a former Wimbledon, U.S. Open, and French Open champion and the no. 1- ranked tennis player in the world.

Utah’s New Class
The Utes added eight true freshmen to the team for the 2015 season; Max Flom, Eden Jacobsen, Paige Johnson, Allie Millerberg, Hailey Skolmoski, Shelby Stewart, Liberty Taylor and Paola van der Veen.

Skolmoski started every game but suffered a season-ending knee injury vs. UW. Van der Veen has played 13 contests, starting 12, missing time due to an illness. Jacobsen has started five contests and Flom three while both have appeared in every game. Millerberg and Taylor have also seen action this year for the Utes.

Mariah Makes Immediate Impact
In her first season with the Utes, Mariah Elmer scored three goals, including the game-winner at local foe Utah State. She played in 17 games, starting three, before incurring a late-season injury.

With her two goals in the win over USD, she became the first player to have a multi-goal game for the Utes since teammate Megan Trabert two seasons ago at Washington State. Elmer was tied for the team lead with three goals this season before suffering a season-ending leg injury.

Utah has placed a player on the All-Freshman team all four seasons since joining the Pac-12 as teammates Katie Rogers and Lindsey Luke were also honored after their debut campaigns.

Series History
Utah is 2-5-0 all-time against USC and has never scored in three meetings in Los Angeles. Despite the record, the two teams have split the last four encounters. Last year, the Utes lost on this very ground by a score of 2-0.

The Utes hold a 1-4-1 all-time record against UCLA after losing 1-0 to the No. 1-ranked Bruins last season. Utah’s only win in the series was here in 2004 over a seventh-ranked Bruin squad.

Scouting the Opposition
Consistency is key to this year’s USC team, which returns nine starters from last season and adds strong reinforcements in college transfers Sammy Jo Prudhomme, Morgan Andrews and Amanda Rooney. Super sub Sydney Johnson leads the team with five goals on just nine shots. Senior Jamie Fink is next with four goals, three in her last two outings.

Ten different UCLA players have scored the Bruins’ 20 goals this season. Darian Jenkins leads the team in goals scored with five, followed by Kodi Lavrusky, who has three. Freshman Siri Ervik, a Norwegian Youth National Team player  became UCLA’s third starting goalkeeper this season, earning starts in UCLA’s last three games. Defender Zoey Goralski is the Pac-12 leader in assists in conference games, recording four in six games.

Searching for the Breakthrough
The Utes have not beaten a Top 25 squad in their last 21 games dating back to a 1-0 victory over Oregon State on October 14, 2011.

Utah has also not beaten a Top 25 team on the road in its last 21 tries. That streak dates back to a 1-0 victory at No. 16 BYU on October 13, 2007.

Utah Soccer Earns NSCAA Academic Awards
The Utah women’s soccer team earned a NSCAA Team Academic Award for the sixth year in a row and 14th time overall. The award started being handed out in 1996 and the Utes are second among Pac-12 schools (Washington, 15). 

A total of 554 soccer teams over three divisions posted a team grade point average of 3.0 or higher, thereby earning the NSCAA Team Academic Award for the 2014-15 academic year. Utah posted a 3.41 team GPA and was third among all Pac-12 teams for the academic year.

Utah had three players, including returnee Katie Rogers, named as NSCAA Women’s University Division Scholar All-West Region honorees

Season Ticket Scarves
Season tickets are $20 and come with a Utah Soccer Scarf. Your scarf serves as your season ticket and will get you admission to all home games. All seating is general admission. To get your 2015 season ticket scarf, visit http://utahtickets.com/soccer/#single-games or call 801-581-UTIX.

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