The Utah soccer team (3-4-3, 0-1) kicked off its rigorous Pac-12 schedule Friday afternoon with a match against eighth-ranked Stanford (7-2, 1-0). This was the second time the schools faced off to begin conference play, and the second time that the Utes were looking to begin Pac-12 play by knocking off a top-ten Stanford team in Salt Lake.

Unfortunately for Utah, the Cardinal proved to be too much to handle in the second half. The Utes even allowed a last-second goal on their way to a 4-1 loss at Ute Field.

Last season’s meeting between Utah and then-No. 4 Stanford ended in a 1-1 draw, and the beginning of this year’s bout between the Utes and Cardinal echoed that stalemate. For much of the first half, both teams showcased strong defensive play and neither side was able to come up with a goal.

In the 14th minute, Utah’s Taylor Slattery fired the first shot of the match, but was denied by Stanford goalkeeper Jane Campbell. The Cardinal offense continued to pressure the Utes, but was plagued by offside penalties, racking up five in the first half.

In the 28th minute, a Utah corner from Paola van der Veen sailed into the box, where a Stanford miscue led to Katie Rogers coming up with the loose ball. Her first attempt on the goal was deflected, but Rogers buried a follow-up shot into the top right corner of the net and gave the Utes the 1-0 lead.

The Cardinal revamped its offensive efforts, and in the 37th minute, Stanford’s Averie Collins wound up in a one-on-one with Utah goalkeeper Lindsey Luke. Luke blocked the point-blank shot with a diving save, and stifled two more Cardinal corner kicks to preserve the Utes’ lead into the half.

In the 63rd minute, they got what they were looking for when Stanford’s Kyra Carusa knocked a loose ball into the Utah box to tie the game. Fifty-seven seconds later, it was Carusa again who headed in a corner and pulled Stanford ahead by one.

Utah tried to rally, but Stanford’s unrelenting offense gave the Utes little to work with. Shots from Utah’s Hailey Skolmoski and Baylee Nielsen in the 71st and 75th minutes missed their mark. Before the Utes could get another attempt to even the score, a miscommunication in the 85th minute between Luke and defender Ali Allen resulted in a Cardinal goal.

Stanford’s late third goal killed any momentum the Utes had strung together in the second half. In the final second of the game, Stanford’s Ry Walker-Hartshorn slipped one in the net to round out the final score 4-1 in favor of the Cardinal.

Friday was not the first game where the Utes have had a strong first-half performance only to fall short in the latter half of the game. Luke stated that the biggest takeaway from the game is that the Utes have to keep up the intensity for the entire match.

“Credit to [Stanford] they’re a good team, but we let up,” Luke said. “That’s not how we want to play and it’s something that we all collectively have to figure out and not let those mistakes happen again. We can’t let our heads down, it’s happened game after game after game and we’ve got to fix it.”

Utah has not won a game since its Sept. 6 match against San Diego, and the team is coming off a series of close competitions that haven’t ended the way the team would like. Luke said that the team is determined to forge ahead in conference play and not to be set back by Friday’s loss.

“I thought we came out and played really well the first half. I thought we were confident, and wanted to turn things around, and I think that that attitude is still there,” said Luke. “Obviously right now, it’s not fun to lose, but the attitude is still there, we still want to turn it around and this doesn’t change anything.”

Utah head coach Rich Manning said that the challenge of playing top-25 teams week after week in conference play does not lower the expectations for the Utes, and that the team can compete with everyone in the Pac-12. He also said that next week’s games are the next step towards the team’s goal of making the playoffs.

“It’s a conference game, we’re looking for points,” Manning said. “We didn’t get any points today, that’s the disappointment … At the end of the day, the league is really good, and it’s about how many points you can accumulate at the end of it. That’s what we’re shooting for.”

The Utes travel to Oregon this weekend, taking on Oregon State on Friday at 4 p.m. PT and the Ducks on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT.

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