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Show 6 Monday October 7, 2013 SPORTS UPCOMING SPORTS EVENTS TODAY: Men's Golf Utah @ Utah Invitational All Day Park City, Utah TUESDAY: Softball Utah @ Snow College 3:30 p.m. Utah Softball Stadium Men's Golf Utah @ Utah Invitational All Day Park City, Utah WEDNESDAY: Women's Tennis Utah @ ITA Regional TBA Las Vegas, Nev. PAC-12 SCORE ROUNDUP FOOTBALL Oregon 57 Colorado 16 Stanford 31 Washington 28 UCLA 34 Utah 27 Arizona St. 34 Notre Dame 37 Washington St. 44 Cal 22 www.dailyutahchronicle.corn SOCCER Luke key for win over OSU early goal , Ryan Miller STAFF WRITER Utah used an early goal and a strong performance from goalie Lindsey Luke to beat Oregon State 1-o Sunday at Ute Field. With the victory, the Utes remain unbeaten both at home and in conference play. In the 14th minute, midfielder Katie Taylor sent a cross into the box that forward Taylor Slattery was able to collect. Slattery turned on the net and sent a low shot past the outstretched arms of OSU keeper Sammy Jo Prudhomme to put Utah up i-o. If the Utes (6-1-5, 2-o-1) were hoping that the early goal would break the Beavers, they didn't get their wish. OSU pressured Utah constantly and Luke, who came into the match leading the Pac12 in save percentage, was called upon time after time to keep the Beavers off the scoreboard. "Full credit to Oregon State — middle of a road trip — for coming out with the positive energy and physicality that they did," Utes head coach Rich Manning said. "They made it difficult for us and I am proud of the team for grinding through that." In the 27th minute, Oregon State's Jenna Richardson collected a ball in the Beaver attacking third and got free on goal. She sent a low shot on frame, but a diving Luke was able to push it wide of the goal. In the 42nd minute, the Beavers again put Luke under pressure as Jacy Drobney put a shot on goal, but Luke punched it wide of the net to keep the Utes ahead going into halftime. Oregon State's attack pressed up in the second half in hopes of finding an equalizer. The Beavers had multiple chances, but the Utah defense held strong. In the 72nd minute, a Beaver corner kick led to an Audrey Gibb header that CHAD ZAVALA/The Daily Utah Chronicle Freshman forward Taylor Slattery pushes the ball down the field in a game on Sept. 8 against SUU. Slattery scored the lone goal in the Utes' victory over Oregon Sunday at Ute Field. was put on frame. Luke was not in position to make the save, but defender Jenny Hutton preserved the Ute clean sheet by heading the ball away at the goal line. "I think our defense is just solid," Slattery said. "I feel so safe with those four back there." Three minutes later, the Beavers nearly tied it again when Brandi Dawson sent a shot toward the top of the goal, but Luke got a hand on it and knocked the ball over the cross bar. The majority of the second half was played in Oregon State's attacking side with the Beavers applying pressure, but the Utes did have some opportunities to extend their lead. Midfielder Katie Rigby blasted a shot on frame in the 77th minute, but a diving Prudhomme pushed it wide. In the 85th minute, forward Ashton Hall had a one-on-one opportunity against Prudhomme, and though she beat the keeper on the chance, her strike ricocheted off the post. With seven minutes remaining, Oregon State had one of its best chances of the afternoon. Richard- son collected the ball just outside the box, turned on goal and fired a shot. Luke again made a diving save, catching the ball to keep the shutout and victory intact. The Utes' victory Sunday was their second of the weekend, as they defeated Oregon i-o on Friday. Rigby's first career goal was the difference in the match. After playing its first three conference contests at home, Utah will go out on the road this weekend for matches against Washington and Washington State. r.miller@chronicle.utah.edu Utes now a `good team' despite poor Pac-12 start Utah falls to No. 1 Huskies in three sets VOLLEYBALL RYAN MCDONALD Sports Editor w hen analyzing sports there's a tendency to put labels on teams too early. Oftentimes, both fans and people with my job have knee-jerk reactions with small sample sizes, declaring a team's destiny far too soon. But nearly halfway through the season, it's official — the Utes can rightfully be labeled a good team. At 3-2 and 0-2 in Pac-12 play, they're not a great one, but they're certainly better than many preseason prognostications predicted. Entering the season, there were fears that this might be a long year in Salt Lake City. As folks may recall, Utah struggled mightily in 2012 with then-freshman quarterback Travis Wilson leading the offense. Because of Wilson's struggles, the Utes' wide receivers didn't have great campaigns. Additionally, Utah had to replace running back John White, who was one of the best backs in Ute history. Even though Utah had hired offensive genius Dennis Erickson as co-offensive coordinator, thoughts abounded that the Utes just didn't have the pieces to make Erickson's system flourish. There were major questions on defense, too. Utah lost three defensive linemen to the NFL and safety Eric Rowe was going to be the only returning player in the secondary. Calling this year a rebuilding one would have been appropriate. But the Utes have responded to these questions very well through five games. Starting with the signal-caller, Wilson's progression from last season to this one has been remarkable. Yes, he had some major struggles last Thursday in Utah's 34-27 loss to then-No. 12 UCLA at RiceEccles Stadium, but everyone has bad days occasionally. There were some on Twitter after that game calling for Wilson to be See MCDONALD page 7 VOLLEYBALL /4 MADELINE SMITH/The Daily Utah Chronicle Shelby Dalton (left) and Erin Redd-Brandon (right) block for the Utes against Washington Oct. 5 at the Huntsman Center. The Utes fell to the Huskies in three sets. Chad Mobley ASST. SPORTS EDITOR A roar filled the Huntsman Center Saturday night as the Utes went toe-to-toe in the third set with the No.1 Washington Huskies. After losing the first two sets, Utah led by as many as three points in the third, but the Huskies wouldn't go away. After Washington tied things up at 19, the teams went back and forth before the Huskies eventually won the set 3028 and took the match (25-23, 25-15, 30-28). "I thought we played with a lot of heart and battled," said Utah head coach Beth Launiere. "Everybody was just laying it on the line. In general, it was good volleyball." The Utes had an opportunity to grab the first set, as they led 19-17, but Chelsey Schofield and Kalee Kirby collided with each other to give Washington a point. Utah snagged the next two points to go up 21-18, but more miscues were on the way. Bailey Bateman was called for a lift, then a double hit was called on the Utes that led to their eventual demise in the first set. The second set was close early on, but the Huskies ran away with it as Utah struggled to score after getting to 10 points. "I thought it was a pretty high level of volleyball being played out there, except the middle of game two [when] we got stuck in a rotation and they just started digging everything and we just couldn't get it back," Launiere said. "I didn't think our level dropped off significantly. We just couldn't score." Despite being swept on the night, Utah was pleased with the way it competed against the top-ranked squad in the country. Shelby Dalton led the Utes offensively with II kills and a .36o hitting percentage. Defensively, Utah held Washington to 7.5 blocks while the Utes racked up six of their own. "Both of us are great blocking teams," Launiere said. "We both block more balls than this. I think both teams played pretty high and physical. Neither one was able to get the other one." While Utah did have some errors sprinkled throughout the match, right side hitter Alli Spurrier had a clean night and contributed two of the Utes' six blocks. Additionally, she had seven kills with only one error and a .462 hitting percentage. She was both disappointed and optimistic following the match. "Well, it sucks because I hate See VOLLEYBALL page 8 |