Utah Soccer Earns Draw with Oklahoma

In Norman, Okla., Kaycee Buckley scored in the ninth minute, as Utah finished tied with the Oklahoma Sooners 1-1 in a double-overtime match that took place Sunday afternoon. Katie Taylor provided the assist to Buckley (her second assist of the season).

“We showed a lot of heart and just starting off the season, there are a lot of positives to take away from this weekend,” Buckley said. “Everyone kept working and the bench was into it for the whole game. We had the desire to win but just couldn’t get it at the end. It’s a nice start and a good practice for a what we anticipate to be a bunch of tight games coming up on our schedule.”

Oklahoma tied up the match, and scored the final goal, with a Lizzie Luallin goal in the 26th minute. Several Utes had opportunities to score later in the match, but shots either hit the crossbar or were saved by the Oklahoma goalkeeper, Kaitlyn Fahrner. Utes goalkeeper Lindsey Luke recorded two saves on the day. When all was said and done, Utah held a 12-10 edge in shots on goal, as well as a 6-3 edge in corner kicks.

“I was pleased with the new players and how they were able to deal with adversity in some pressure-packed minutes today," Utah head coach Rich Manning said. "We had a solid first half, and then as the game wore on, it was a battle of wills.”

The extreme weather (97+ degree heat) began to be a factor as the game wore on. Buckley noted "it was very obvious that the humidity and weather wore on the teams as the game dragged on."

Utah went 1-0-1 (beating Oral Roberts and tying Oklahoma) on their weekend trip to Oklahoma. The Utes return home for a contest against Boise State on Friday at 7:30 PM MT in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Manning, who is in his 12th season at the helm of the Utah soccer team, said, “The bottom line is that we played well on the road and got two positive results.”