BYU Cougars
PDL standings: 3-3-2, 8 points, 5th place, Southwest Division
Last week: Lost to Ogden, 1-0; beat Ogden, 1-0.
Next up: at Southern California, June 25.
Putting the ball in the back of the net has clearly been BYU's biggest problem this season, as the Cougars have only scored seven times in eight games despite playing some pretty good soccer in most of those contests. Accordingly, BYU has had to settle for some less than desirable results, including a last-minute 1-0 loss to rival Ogden early last week. To its credit, BYU bounced back four days later when Brady Marshall scored to give the Cougars a much-needed 1-0 win over Ogden, a win they'll look to capitalize on going forward.
Ogden Outlaws
PDL standings: 1-4-1, 4 points, 9th place, Southwest Division
Last week: Beat BYU, 1-0; lost to BYU, 1-0.
Next up: at Los Angeles, Friday.
The opening month of the 2009 season hasn't been kind to the Outlaws, who have struggled to get results on the field while trying to shuffle lots of faces in and out of the lineup. Ogden did score a huge 1-0 over BYU early on last week before losing by the same scoreline to the same team later in the week. Moving forward, Ogden coach Ted Eck, a former U.S. National teamer, will look to mold his talented set of individual players into a cohesive group.
Salt Lake Sparta
WPSL standings: 3-2-1, 10 points, 1st place, Big Sky North
Last week: Lost to Arizona, 4-0; lost to Arizona, 1-0.
Next up: vs. Arizona, June 26.
On the heels of a stellar start to the 2009 WPSL season, Sparta faced adversity for the first time last weekend. Salt Lake came flying out of the gates during the first month of the year en route to a 3-0-1 record and a position of first place in the Big Sky North Division of the WPSL. However, Sparta was humbled in back-to-back losses to the Arizona Rush in Arizona last weekend. Arizona first beat Salt Lake 4-0 before turning around less than 24 hours later with a 1-0 victory.
Utah Starzz>
WPSL standings: 1-1-4, 7 points, tie for 2nd place, Big Sky North
Last week: Tied Boise, 1-1 and 0-0.
Next up: vs. Arizona, June 27.
The Starzz have been very competitive during the opening month of their existence as a WPSL team — they've just struggled to get victories. At 1-1-4, Utah has stood tall against some tough competition, but the Starzz haven't quite managed to get many Ws yet. That much was evident in back-to-back draws against Boise last weekend. Chandra Salmon scored to put Utah ahead 1-0 in the first contest before Boise clawed back to equalize in a game that finished 1-1, and neither team managed to find a breakthrough one day later in a 0-0 draw.