DRAPER — It took the Utah Spiders an insanely long time to score a goal in their home opener Saturday. Once they did, though, the rout was on.
The Spiders' Jen Viernes, Amy Kofoed and Krissa Campbell all scored in the final 30 minutes as Utah beat the Women's Premier Soccer League All-Stars 4-1 at Juan Diego High School.
"We started so late," said Utah coach Joanna Barney. "NCAA rules prevented us from getting together until two weeks ago."
Even though the Spiders have played two road games already, it took them a while to get reacquainted — 63 minutes to be exact.
Kristina Burris put the All-Stars ahead on a breakaway goal in the 10th minute, which came on the heels of a flurry of scoring chances for Utah. In fact, that's how the rest of the first half unfolded.
"A lot of these players are done with college, so this is their first time on the field since," said Barney. "The shot is always the first thing to go when you're not playing everyday."
In the first 10 minutes of the second half alone, Jordan High senior Amanda Feigt, Shauna Bingham and Viernes all had wonderful scoring chances.
It wasn't until the 63rd minute that those opportunities produced goals.
Viernes, a former All-American at BYU, evened the score at 1-1 by volleying in a perfect cross from Kofoed, a former Ute.
Three minutes later, Kofoed caught the All-Stars' defense napping as she scored on a breakaway.
Kofoed got in on the action again by assisting on Utah's final goal, an 81st minute tally by Krissa Campbell.
Utah was supposed to host Central Valley in their home opener, but the Rebels have run into some ownership issues lately and dropped out of the WPSL this year.
The league scrambled to find the Spiders an opponent, and in doing so created a make-shift all-star team featuring players from the California Storm, San Francisco Nighthawks and the Maryland Pride.
Utah's next home game is June 7 at 7 p.m., when it hosts defending WPSL champion California. The game will be preceded by a Utah Salt Ratz game at 5:30 p.m.
E-mail: jedward@desnews.com