University of Utah Student Newspapers | 2011-08-29 | Page 6

6 Monday, August 29, 2011 SPORTS UPCOMING SPORTS EVENTS TUESDAY: Women's Volleyball Utah vs. Nova KBM Maribor, Slovenia 7 p.m. Crimson Court THURSDAY: Football Utah vs. Montana State 6 p.m. Rice-Eccles Stadium www.dailyutahchronicle.com SOCCER Despite solid start, Utes lose opener to Nevada Alex Rasmussen STAFF WRITER UTES IN BRIEF CROSS COUNTRY Team focuses on health, debuts young runners Ryan McDonald STAFF WRITER The U's cross country team is corning down the home stretch of training in preparation for its season debut. Instead of focusing on the competitive transition to the Pac-12, head coach Kyle Kepler said his priority in the preseason is to maintain the team's health. In addition to seeing how returning runners such as Alyssa Abbott perform, Kepler is excited for the first few meets. He said there will be great opportunities for some of the younger runners to get their feet wet on the college cross-country scene. The Utes have seven freshmen runners who will be competing this season. The squad will hear its first gun Saturday at the Utah State Open in Logan, which is a showdown against some of the other schools in Utah. Joining the U at this year's meet will be Utah State and Weber State. [e-mail] After a hard-fought match, the Utes suffered a heartbreaking loss in their home opener against Nevada. With seven minutes remaining in the second period, Nevada's midfielder Aleina Dominguez delivered an assist to Kori Disarufino, who side-stepped her defender and delivered a shot to the far right corner of the net, giving Nevada a i-o lead. Try as they might, the Utes couldn't gain momentum after the goal and Nevada walked away with the win. "A wave of disappointment and anger" was how Ute midfielder Jen Ericson described the moment after Nevada's goal. "We realize that for 90 minutes, we have to finish our chances. And we were working to find a goal, and unfortunately today it didn't (happen)." Throughout the first half, Utah dominated nearly all of the play, controlling the ball and momentum for more than half the period and generating eight shot attempts to Nevada's one. Ericson led the Utes with four total shot attempts. "I thought I played overall really well," Ericson said. "Looking back at the game, I thought I generated a lot of opportunities for my team, but at the same time I realize that I need to finish my chances and score some goals." SPENCER SANDSTROM/The Daily Utah Chronicle Utah striker Jill Robison crosses the ball during the first half of Sunday's home opener against Nevada. The Utes lost 1-0 after giving up a goal in the 83rd minute. The Utes had multiple opportunities to score in both the first and second halves. In total, the Utes outshot the Wolfpack 19 to seven. Their best chance at scoring came off a breakaway play when Jenny Hutton released from io yards outside the goal. Hutton's attempt, however, PAC-12 PREVIEW was overshot. "It's disappointing, but all we can do is look past those (shots) and get ready for the next game," Ericson said. "Now with two losses all we can do is stick together. We worked hard out there and we never gave up and we just need to keep up that mentality and we'll get it." Even though eight different players were able to generate one or more shot attempts Sunday, finishing these attempts is what head coach Rich Manning is looking for. See College football kicks off Thursday, and to get ready for the upcoming season, The Daily Utah Chronicle will preview every team in the Pac-12 throughout the week Arizona, UCLA, Stanford and Washington State are spotlighted today. Tuesday's preview will break down Arizona State, USC, Washington and Oregon State. Pac-1 2 2010 record: NORTH STAFF WRITER Arizona comes into the 2011 season looking to redeem itself for its poor performance down the stretch this past year. The Wildcats began the 2011 campaign with a 7-1 record before losing their final five games. On the offensive side of the ball, Arizona returns quarterback Nick Foles, who is expected to be taken high in the 2012 NFL Draft. Foles threw for 3,191 yards and made 20 touchdowns this past season. Arizona also brings back all-conference receiver Juron Griner. Receiver Dan Buckner transferred from Texas and will be a solid complement to Griner. The biggest question for the Arizona offense is about the front line. The Wildcats allowed 33 sacks a year ago, and this Jantzee Coggins STAFF WRITER The Cougars had a difficult 2010 campaign, with their only victories coming against Montana State and Oregon State. While under the direction of head coach Paul Wulff, the Cougars' program has been among the worst of any Bowl Championship Series team. It seems things can only go up from here, and returning 15 starters helps— the third most in the Pac-12. Junior quarterback Jeff Tuel will enter his second full season as a starter. He threw for 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last season and is capable of running the spread offense. The receiving corps is considerably deep with two huge targets in Marquis Wilson and Jared Karstetter. The line returns three starters, but is one of the worst among BCS and Pac-12 teams because of its severe lack year they are even less experienced with just one returning starter. The Arizona defense allowed 22.7 points per game this past season, which ranked fourth in the Pac-io. The defense returns seven starters, four of which are in the secondary. The defensive line will suffer with the loss of all-conference defensive ends Brooks Reed and Ricky Elmore. They also lost defensive end D'Aundre Reed, who was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings. Linebacker Jake Fischer and safety Adam Hall both suffered knee injuries during spring ball. The two were expected to start this year but will likely be out for the season. p.lee@ chronicle.utah.edu in overall size. The rushing offense ranked 117th in 2010. Without a running game, the Cougars will never be able to move the ball. The defense returns eight starters and will be headed by defensive end Travis Long, who led the team with five sacks and 5.5 tackles for losses this past year. Even with Long at the helm, the Cougars' run defense and pass defense have nevertheless been extremely lackluster. The Cougars were outscored by Pac-io opponents in 2010 by 134 points, going 1-8 in conference play for the second time in three years. Although the Cougars' schedule is not the toughest in the newly formed Pac-12 Conference, they will still be underdogs in almost every game they play. [e-mail] 2010 record: Pac-1 2 2-10 NORTH Division Pac-1 2 NORTH Division Parker Lee SOCCER Page 9 Division Todd Patton STAFF WRITER For Stanford University, this season is all about luck—specifically all-American, Heisman candidate and future top NFL pick Andrew Luck, the Cardinal quarterback. After losing head coach Jim Harbaugh to the NFL, the team will be led by Luck to consecutive Bowl Championship Series berths. Returning playmakers and weapons for Luck consists of running back Stepfan Taylor and all-conference tight end Coby Fleener. Along with the return of two first-team Pac-io offensive linemen Jonathan Jantzee Coggins STAFF WRITER The UCLA 2010 season was extremely frustrating for Westwood, to say the least. Embarrassing losses to Oregon and Stanford displayed how badly the Bruins needed improvement. The 2011 season will tell us if UCLA merely made aesthetic rearrangements, or if it actually made the changes necessary to turn the program around. The Bruins lost two key defensive players to the NFL and welcome both a new offensive and defensive coordinator to the system—long-time offensive coordinator Norm Chow left to join Utah's coaching staff. Quarterback play was simply awful this past season and was the single biggest reason why UCLA failed to make any substantial progress as a program. The team is Martin and David DeCastro, The Cardinal remains loaded on the offensive side of the ball. Losing starting wide receivers Ryan Whalen and Doug Baldwin might end up being a non-issue because of the experience at the other offensive positions. With the offense garnering much of the attention, Stanford's defense remains an underrated part of its game. Linebackers Chase Thomas and Shayne Skov are looking to lead the Cardinal defense in 2011. Throw in returning safeties Delano Howell and Michael Thomas, and Stanford has a relatively experienced and talented defensive unit. Newly hired head coach David Shaw was blessed with the best player in the country, and Luck should help ease his transition to being a head coach. Expectations will remain high in Palo Alto, especially after this past season's Orange Bowl victory. [e-mail] hoping Rick Neuheisel, a UCLA alumnus and a former quarterback coach for the Baltimore Ravens, is the right man to turn it around. The Bruins will need either Kevin Prince or Richard Brehaut to establish leadership as a quarterback in the huddle. The offensive line needs to be able to aid Prince or Brehaut through a full season's worth of tough defensive fronts. Running back Jonathan Franklin is returning and will be heavily relied upon. The Bruins are hoping that seven offensive starters will help push the team to the top of the pack. UCLA has eight defensive starters returning, but it will need to make leaps and bounds from this past year in order to stop the power offenses of teams such as Oregon and Stanford. This season will answer the lingering questions about UCLA's ability to remain competitive in the new Pac-12 era. [e-mail] 2010 record: Pac-1 2 SOUTH Division