University of Washington
Utah
Huskies Get Fifth Straight Win, Beat Utes 1-0
October 25, 2014 | Women's Soccer
SALT LAKE CITY – UW women's soccer beat Utah 1-0 Friday night in Salt Lake behind Jaclyn Softli's 10thgoal of the season, as the Huskies won their fifth straight and handed the Utes their first home loss in 18 games dating back to 2012.
"That was a tough game," UW head coach Lesle Gallimore said. "Utah doesn't lose at home very often. We haven't had great luck here, like a lot of other teams. We played really well defensively against a fast, athletic team. We were able to possess the ball a lot better as the game wore on. We grind things out and we find a way.
With the win, UW (12-4-0, 5-2-0 Pac-12) tightens its hold on third place in the Pac-12 with 15 points. With four games regular season games remaining, the Huskies' 12 wins are their most in a season since 2010, when they finished 13-9-2.
"Five wins in the Pac-12, in such a good conference, that's huge for us," senior defender Stine Schoening said. "Confidence-wise, too, I feel like we are playing better and better each game. We want to be on the upswing and we're sitting in good spot."
Softli's 61st-minute tally turned out to be the game-winner. She got a ball wide open in front of the goal from Shannon Simon, who was credited with her third assist of the season, and Softli turned and shot on the ground toward the far post. The ball bounced off the left upright and into the back of the goal.
"When you're on a roll, you find a way to win," Softli said. "Winning is becoming a habit and hopefully we can keep it that way."
That would prove to be enough as Megan Kufeld and the UW back line, led by center backs Schoening and Allyson Brahs, recorded their third straight shutout and sixth of the season. Kufeld made five saves and lowered her goals-against average to 1.1.
"That's a team effort," Gallimore said. "We always talk about being great defensively so we don't have to do it as much. Defend well so you can have the ball more often."
The Huskies recorded 12 shots to Utah's nine, led by Kate Bennett's four and Amanda Perez's three. The Utes has some control early and produced some dangerous chances, but UW settled in about 20 minutes into the match and held the majority of the possession from that point on.
The Utes (8-4-4, 1-4-2 Pac-12) lost their fourth Pac-12 game after going unbeaten in non-conference play. Utah's Katie Taylor recorded four shots and goalkeeper Lindsey Luke made six saves.
UW continues its weekend at Colorado on Sunday at 1 p.m. MT. The game will be streamed live and fans can follow the action on Twitter at @UW_Soccer.
