Oct. 14, 1999
The San Diego State women's soccer team suffered its first Mountain West Conference defeat when it fell 1-0 to Utah on Thursday at the ARCO Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista.
The Aztecs (9-5 overall, 2-1 Mountain West) had several good chances to score, but were unable to find the back of the net. With the game scoreless midway through the first half, SDSU sophomore midfielder Kaycee McElree beat Ute goalkeeper Courtney Hills with a hard shot, but it hit the right post and was cleared. Three minutes later, with Hills out of position, McElree sent a chip that rolled just to the left of the wide open Utah goal.
With just over a minute left in the first half, Utah (9-5 overall, 2-1 Mountain West) cashed in on a counter-attack when sophomore midfielder Amy Kofoed came out of the Ute defensive zone and dribbled past midfield, where she found freshman defender Cortney Johanson wide open. Johanson then ran a quick give-and-go with freshman forward Kim Naylor and placed a high shot past Aztec senior goalkeeper Katherine Judkins and into the net.
SDSU had three chances to tie the score in the second half, the first of which came when senior forward Lori LaCoursiere had a free kick from the top of the area with 15 minutes remaining, however, she shot it into the wall and Utah cleared the ball. Just four minutes later, Aztec senior midfielder Megan Mattes hit the left post with a hard shot after receiving a cross from junior midfielder Elicia Petre. Petre had a chance of her own with a minute remaining when she beat a Ute defender down the right sideline and was headed to goal when Utah's Lesa Zollinger made a saving tackle to send the ball out of bounds and end the threat.
The loss pushed the Aztecs into a tie for second place with the Utes in the Mountain West standings.
SDSU will look to bounce back when it hosts 11th-ranked BYU at 1 p.m. on Saturday at the Olympic Training Center. The game will mark the final regular season home game for junior Katie Hamilton and seniors Lori LaCoursiere, Kelly Grogg, Katherine Judkins and Megan Mattes.
Utah 1, San Diego State 0 1 2 TUtah 1 0 1SDSU 0 0 0
Goals43:41UtahCortney Johnson (Kim Naylor)
Cautions/Ejections64:35UtahShauna Gurr (trip)68:56SDSUDanielle Small (trip)