Weekend at a Glance
Utah soccer (1-0-1) opens the home portion of its 2015 schedule this weekend with contests against Houston (0-1-0) on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and Cal State Fullerton (2-0-0) at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The game against the Cougars will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

Luke Leading the Way
Utah soccer’s Lindsey Luke was named the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week for her performances this past weekend.

Luke made seven saves as Utah earned a 1-0 victory over Marquette. She then made three saves in the 0-0 draw with No. 21 DePaul. With both games going into overtime, Luke has already racked up over 200 minutes of scoreless play.

No Utah player has earned more accolades from the Pac-12 in program history than Luke. This is the sixth time she has been named Goalkeeper of the Week.

An All-Pac-12 performer and NSCAA All-Region selection, Luke needs 88 saves and six shutouts this year to set the Utah career marks in both categories.

Utes Post Successful Opening Weekend
The Utes opened the season with a pair of road results this past weekend. Last Friday, Utah was victorious at Marquette when Nykell Seymour scored the game-winner in overtime for a 1-0 result. On Sunday, the Utes out-shot DePaul 14-7 but were unable to break through in a 0-0 draw with the No. 21 Blue Demons

New NSCAA Rankings
Utah moved into the Nio. 9 spot this week in the NSCAA Pacific Region Poll. The Utes moved ahead of two teams including Pac-12 rival Washington. The Top-10 currently features nine Pac-12 schools and San Diego State of the Mountain West Conference

Mariah Makes Pac-12 All-Freshman Team
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.

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.

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.

Van der Veen and Skolmoski started both games this past weekend while Flom and Jacobsen each made appearances off the bench.

Utah Soccer Earns NSCAA Academic Awards
The Utah women’s soccer team earned a NSCAA Team Academic Award for the fifth year in a row and 13th time overall. The award started being handed out in 1996 and the Utes are second among Pac-12 schools (Washington, 14). 

A total of 582 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 2013-14 academic year. Utah posted a 3.33 team GPA and was fourth 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.

Program Progress
The Utes are aiming for the seventh NCAA Tournament appearance and second in three years as it embarks on the 2015 season. The Utes started last season with an 8-1-1 mark after a draw with No. 4 Stanford opened Pac-12 play.

 

However, Utah lost significant players to injury and came undone in close games, dropping five one-goal contests in league play and finishing the season at .500

Scouting this Weekend’s Opposition
Houston dropped its opener last weekend to Texas State, 2-0, and the Cougars have won only one of their last 19 road contests. Senior defender Sydnie Green was an All-American Athletic Conference selection last season. Houston’s leading scorer from a year ago, Lexa Green, also returns for her senior season after tallying four goals and nine points

Cal State Fullerton started off their season with a pair of home wins, 1-0 vs. Liberty and 4-1 vs. George Washington. The Titans are the two-time reigning Big West champions and bring back a trio of NSCAA All-West Region selections – senior defender Morgan Batcheller, senior midfielder Christina Burkenroad and redshirt senior forward Rebecca Wilson. Burkenroad scored three goals this past weekend and Wilson added a pair in the two wins.

Series History
This will be the first meeting between the Utes and Cougars while it will be the sixth altercation against the Titans (1-1-3).

Utah is 1-2-1 against teams from the American Athletic Conference having played contests with South Florida, SMU and Tulsa.  The Utes are 10-9-1 all-time against teams from the state of Texas.

Utah and Fullerton last played against each other during the 2013 season with the teams playing to a scoreless draw in California. Utah is 14-4-5 against teams from the Big West Conference

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.