Utah Soccer Defeats Oregon, 2-0
EUGENE, Ore. - Utah soccer capped a perfect weekend with a 2-0 win at Oregon this afternoon. Paola van der Veen had a goal and assist whileNatalie Vukic capped the scoring for the Utes.
This was the first time the Utes earned a two-win weekend on the road in league play since joining the Pac-12. The Utes are now 8-2-1 all-time against Oregon, including a 4-2-1 mark in Eugene. Utah has also captured four of five against the Ducks since moving to the conference.
"We are really excited getting two positive results on the weekend for the first time since we joined the conference," head coach Rich Manning said. "The way we performed was a really good sign. We tightened it up in the back and that got us back on track. The team adjusted to different moments in the game really well to grind out a pair of road wins."
Utah started a little sluggish with Lindsey Luke making consecutive saves on Kira Wagoner in the third minute. Wagoner would come close to putting the Ducks on top when she hit the post in the 15th minute.
Utah only registered two shots in the half when Van der Veen tested the Oregon goalkeeper in the 26th minute and Baylee Nielsen had a try blocked by a UO defender. Luke was called into action once again in the 37th minute, stopping Miranda Schulz.
Two minutes into the second half, Van der Veen let loose on a low rocket that got past Oregon goalkeeper Lauren Holden. It was the first collegiate goal for the Dutch freshman and she would continue to test the Duck defenders with two more scoring attempts.
"I feel a little bit relieved," Van der Veen said. "It's only been a few games but it feels like forever."
In the 74th minute, Van der Veen turned provider when her header eluded Holden and Vukic was there to tap it home. The sophomore's third goal of the season put the Utes ahead 2-0.
"I thought we did a real nice job this weekend. We played a full 90 minutes on Friday and one good half here. However, we scored two goals in that half, so we're pretty happy about that."
"Last weekend we had to put it behind us and move forward," Vukic stated. "We see that the schedule is really similar to last season with the same home and road opponents. We get a re-do after what happened last season. It is exhilarating to play these games again and get the right results."
Luke made three more saves in the second half, stopping Taylor Kuroda early and then making consecutive stops on Kyra Fawcett and Kristen Parr to preserve the shutout. It was the fourth shutout of the season for Luke and the 24th of her career. She now needs four more blankings for the Utah career record.
Utah opens Homecoming Weekend with No. 21 Washington State at 4 p.m. MT on Friday.
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