Making up for loss, soccer wins big 3-1

Score fast and score early. That was the principle the UTEP soccer team stood by Aug. 29 at University Field.

Quick goals early on in the match led to a lopsided affair as the Miners (2-1) defeated Utah Valley State 3-1.

"We were really excited about the game," head coach Kevin Cross said. "I really felt bad about ourselves after the game on Friday."

UTEP lost 2-1 at home to Fresno State to which Cross said he was disappointed because the team did not play UTEP style soccer.

But all that changed Sunday afternoon as the Miners imposed their frustration from Friday's loss on a less-than-talented UVS soccer team.

"We came together as a team today," sophomore forward Brittany Kindzierski said. "We really didn't play as a team on Friday. We knew what we had to do today… we all played hard which was really different from Friday."

Goals early on in the match set the tempo for the team. At the five-minute mark, senior midfielder Anoop Josan served up a corner kick that sailed off defender Jessie Pettit's foot towards the net. Wolverines' goalkeeper Hailey Brown deflected the shot attempt but UTEP midfielder Katie Dorman was there for the put-back, giving the Miners a 1-0 lead.

"It was a great ball-in from Anoop," Dorman said. "Jessie got a great back-post hit. It was an easy finish for me, they did all the work."

The Miners did not stop there. Ten minutes after going up a score, Kindzierski scored the second goal of the match giving UTEP a 2-0 lead at the 15:38 mark. It was her nose for the ball that gave Kindzierski her goal. UVS' Brown couldn't control the rebound off a shot attempt leaving an open shot for the forward to tap it in.

"Before the game the coaches told me the keeper lets off a lot of rebounds," Kindzierski said. "I just kept telling myself ‘get in on any shot' and that one shot I had a feeling as soon as Skye [Schultz] hit it ‘I'm going to get in there right away' and I was right there at the right time."

Even after going up two scores, the Miners did not lay off the gas pedal one bit.

Less than 10 minutes after the last goal, Pettit weaved her way through traffic and found an open shot somewhere in between defenders. On a tightrope, the ball found its way through the goalkeeper and into the back of the net. Pettit's goal, the Miners' third of the afternoon, was scored at the 18th minute of the match.

The Miners would go up early and stay there for the remainder of the game.

The Wolverines managed just one score on the day at the 23rd minute of the first half, a goal that caught goalkeeper Chandra Morden off guard. She would make up for it with five saves in the contest.

"This was the team that beat us here last year," Cross said. "We challenged them. We were real straight with them on [Saturday] and told them what they needed to do and they responded very well. I was real proud of them."

UTEP hits the road next for a match against Stephen F. Austin at 6 p.m. Sept 3 at the SFA soccer complex.

Sal Guerrero may be reached at prospector@utep.edu.