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Show /port/ AI2 Leading the Sports Page From RANT -A10 one). Jacksonville couldn't beat Indianapolis. New England finally looked human after beating Oakland, but then loses to Carolina who was defeated by New Orleans in a spirited game played at Giant's Stadium (the same Saint's team that then lost to the Giants in a Monday night New Orlean's home game). Philadelphia crushed San Francisco 42-3 as a varsity squad that had just lined up against a Pop Warner team; a week after the Niners pulled off the biggest upset of the year over the Rams. Doesn't make sense? It's not supposed to. Back to the subject, why have the Utes been stealing all the headlines, and BYU causing the migraines? They used to be one of the most respected programs in the country. Nobody won more with less. But in recent years, Utah ripped all that away. BYU fans say, "Remember 84," and Utah fans say, "that was 37 years ago!" I don't know what it is, but there seems to be something in the air that hints at a possible changing of the guard. The boosters with blue t-shirts are ready to re-claim what had been there's for nearly four decades; whereas Ute fans aren't willing to let a tough streakbreaking loss to TCU start turning back the tides just like that. They know they're still on top and BYU needs to do a lot more than hope Utah loses to change that. In Salt Lake, people will tell you that everybody bleeds red. Which is true; unless of course you give a Cougar fan a reason to bleed blue. You have to go back to 2001 to remember that. What if BYU beats TCU, and Utah beats the Cougars again in the final week of the season? Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me. MONDAY*SEPTEMBER 26-2005 Wolverines swallow T-Birds r Phillip Morgan Sports Writer In front of the largest crowd ever to watch a game at Wolverine Field, the women's soccer team played their best possession ball of the year to defeat instate rival Southern Utah 2-1. The crowd of 407 went home happy as Utah Valley improved to 2-3, beating the Thunderbirds for the second straight year. "Our girls played a very good game today," said head coach Justin Wagar. "We played an attacking-possession style of play, with quick touches on the ball and then getting rid of it before (SUU) could break down on us." The "possession game" Wagar was referring to worked very well in the first half as senior captain Carolyn Theurer scored her first goal of the year just 14:54 into the ball game. "It felt really good to get that first goal," Theurer said. "I think that I was putting too much pressure on myself to go out there and score. My sister told me today to just go out because you love to play soccer and play like,you love to play." Theurer's contribution was enough to later earn her the Independent Offensive Player of the Week. The Wolverines kept SUU off balance throughout the first half and scored another goal as Addie Hair and Heidi Christensen each recorded assists on a score by Courtney Robbins that banged in off the side post to give Utah Valley a 2-0 lead going into the half. The goal was Robbins' second in as many games, and she was named Division I Independent Newcomer of the Week for her performance. In the second half, SUU switched up their formation, bringing in an extra forward in hope of giving them more opportunities to score. "When they switched, it took away some of our possession game in the back," Wagar said. "But our midfielders were able to hang in there, mark up and hold on for the win." It was Tara Olson, one of the SUU forwards, who successfully laid the ball into the back of the net. Dribbling in unassisted, she put the ball past sophomore goalkeeper Tasha Bell. "Coach (Brian) Stock did a great job of making the adjustments that he needed '* * • * - \ (Iff V • ' * - '•' •: • • % 1 '"r Armi LOLKCI/UVSC Athk-tki . • • * ; OS? Junior midfielder Courtney Robbins, goes up to try and gain control of the ball during women's soccer 2-1 win over Southern Utah University. to,'* Wagar said. "His girls are a muchimproved team this year. They beat Idaho State, a team that we lost to (2-0) last week." The Wolverines will now travel to Texas to take on the Miners of UTEP and Louisiana-Monroe in the Border Shootout. "It should be a great challenge this weekend," Wagar said. "We are playing two solid teams. We have played enough quality teams that the girls aren't nervous [to play against 9-0 UTEP]. Our key to success will be on defense. If our defense can hang in there, we'll have a chance to win one-if not both of the games." Following this week's contests in Texas, Utah Valley returns home to face Portland State on Monday, September 26 at 1 p.m. month free Space is very limited so call or visit us ri iht away! |