Weekend at a Glance 
Utah soccer (2-1-1) is out on the road for the second time this season with a pair of weekend contests. The Utes visit No. 9 BYU (3-0-0) on Friday evening for the Deseret First Duel and then travel to San Diego for a contest against the Toreros (1-3-0).

Luke Leading the Way 
Utah soccer’s Lindsey Luke was named the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week on August 25 for her season-opening performances.

Luke made seven saves as Utah earned a 1-0 victory over Marquette. She then made three saves in a 0-0 draw with No. 21 DePaul. With both games going into overtime, Luke 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 81 saves and six shutouts this year to set the Utah career marks in both categories.

Program Progress 
The Utes are aiming for the seventh NCAA Tournament appearance and second in three years as it embarks on the 2015 season. After a third-place finish in 2013, its highest ever, the squad slumped to a .500 mark in 2014.

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 two significant players to injury and came undone in close games, dropping five one-goal contests in league play.

Utes Split During First Home Weekend 
Utah matched their 2014 single-game high when it scored four goals in a rout of Houston last Friday. Taylor Slattery had a goal and assist, Max Flom, Natalie Vukic and Katie Rogers all tallied for the Utes and Paola van der Veen notched a pair of assists.

Utah then dropped its first contest of the season to Cal State Fullerton, 3-1. Kaycee Buckley got her first goal of the season as Slattery capped a four-point weekend with another assist.

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 have started all four games this season while Flom started both games this past weekend. Jacobsen has played in every game off the bench and both Millerberg and Taylor have also seen action.

The Deseret Duel Rivalry Series 
Friday night’s matchup between Utah and BYU will mark the first contest of the 2015-16 Deseret First Duel rivalry series. The rivalry series includes each sport where Utah and BYU compete head-to-head during regular-season play.

The Deseret First Duel uses a system that awards points to the winner of each competition. A team trophy will be awarded to the individual winner in each sport. Points won by the individual sports will count toward each school’s overall total. A granite traveling trophy is awarded to the overall series champion each year.

Series History 
Despite winning this contest two of the last three years, Utah is 7-19-1 all-time against the Cougars and 3-11-1 away from home. Also, Utah has not won in Provo since 2007 (three meetings).

The last two meetings have each been decided by a penalty kick as Katie Taylor scored the winner last year in SLC and Ashley Hatch netted the 87th minute decider at BYU in 2013.

Utah is 2-1-0 all-time vs. San Diego, 1-1 against the Toreros in California. The last meeting was a 3-0 loss for the Utes on the road during the 2004 season.

Entering the weekend, Utah is 16-35-6 in its history against teams from the West Coast Conference.

Looking for the Breakthrough 
Utah is 3-18-2 vs. Top 10 teams all-time. It has been 16 contests since their last win against such an opponent, 2-1 at No. 7 UCLA on 10/1/04.

The Utes have not beaten a Top 25 squad in its last 17 games overall dating back to a 1-0 victory over Oregon State on 10/14/11.

Finally, Utah has not beaten a Top 25 team on the road in its last 21 meetings. That streak dates back to a 2-1 victory at No. 19 Stanford on 8/25/06.

Scouting the Opposition 
BYU has won three straight to start the season and has done so by a 2-0 score in each contest. They defeated No. 18 Cal in Hawaii, Colorado in Provo and Nebraska on the road. Junior goalkeeper Rachel Boaz has yet to allow a goal this season. Juniors Elena Medeiros and Hermann Trophy candidate Ashley Hatch have each scored two goals, while Nadia Gomes has a point in three consecutive games.

San Diego has played in four straight one-goal games to open the season losing to No. 4 UCLA as well as Michigan and Georgetown on the road. Junior Jacqueline Altschuld was picked to the preseason All-WCC team after recording five goals and three assists while being named to the NSCAA Pacific All-Region Team. Junior striker Victoria Walker leads USD in goals scored with two, both in the season-opener.

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.

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.