Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
News releaseSALT LAKE CITY - The No. 21-ranked University of Utah soccer team (4-1) was upset by Weber State (3-0) Wednesday night by a 1-0 score at Ute Field. The Utes outshot the Wildcats 28-12, but were unable to finish a chance and took their first loss of the season.
"First of all congratulations to Weber State and credit them on a great game," said Utah head coach Rich Manning. "They defended with passion and heart and (Rebecca Ritchie) was great in goal. They had a chance and scored on it, and we were not good enough in front of the net on ours. It would be easy to say we didn't have enough intensity or weren't sharp enough, but that wasn't the case. We just needed to be more precise and weren't."
Weber State scored in the 39th minute as Roxanne Tebbs, a former Ute who transferred to WSU after her freshman year, buried a shot from the top of the box. After receiving a corner kick from Ari Wood, Tebbs hit a half-volley into the right side of the net. It was Tebbs' first goal of the year.
The story of the game was the outstanding play of Weber State's goalkeeper, Rebecca Ritchie, who made 11 saves in the contest, including several acrobatic, diving stops. She also got help from her defense, as they cleared a Ute shot off the line in the first half. Utah goalkeeper Hannah Turpen made four saves on the day.
Total shots went 28-12 in favor of the Utes, with shots on goal going 12-5 for them. Utah also took 14 corner kicks to Weber's five.
"They finished a great chance and we weren't good enough in front of goal," said junior forward Lauren Hair. "WSU is always tough and they an played awesome game. It was a very physical game, and we didn't execute like we needed to. We had a lot of chances that we didn't finish. We could definitely have had a couple of goals. But it was a good game, and give them a lot of credit."
Utah soccer is back in action Sunday, Sept. 6, as William & Mary visits Ute Field for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
(Courtesy U of U)
