SALT LAKE CITY — The 25th-ranked Utah women’s soccer team kicks off Pac-12 play Saturday against the team that ended their season last year in the NCAA Tournament regional semifinals.
The Utes will take on No. 10 USC at 2 p.m. in a “red-out” game at Ute Field in what will be the Pac-12 opener for both teams. Utah comes in with a 5-2-1 non-conference record, with losses at Loyola and Duke, while the Trojans are 7-1 with a loss to Kansas, who the Utes beat in their last outing.
Last year, when the Utes went 13-4-5, they tied the Trojans 1-1 in a league encounter in Salt Lake but fell 1-0 in the NCAA third-round game in Los Angeles.
The Utes are led by Hailey Skolmoski, a junior from Riverton, and Paola van der Veen, a junior from The Netherlands, who have scored seven and six goals, respectively, this season. Over the past six games, van der Veen has scored five goals and she and Skolmoski are tied for second in the Pac-12 with 15 points which ranks them 16th nationally.
Other top players for the Utes are midfielders Haylee Cacciacarne and Eden Jacobsen, who each have seven points this year, and forward Natalie Vukic, midfielder Holly Daugirda and defenders Natalee Wells and Aleea Gwerder. Goalkeeper Carly Nelson has allowed seven goals this season with one shutout and has made 20 saves.
USC's balanced lineup is led by Savannah DeMelo with nine points, Alex Anthony with seven points, and Leah Pruitt and Tara McKeown with six points apiece. Goalkeeper Kaylie Collins has allowed six goals this season and has 11 saves.
After this week, the Utes will head to the Northwest for games against Washington Thursday and Washington State Sunday before returning home to face No. 2-ranked Stanford on Oct. 5.