(BOX SCORE - PDF)
Southern Utah scored two goals in the final 14-plus minutes of regulation to rally and defeat Dixie State by a 3-2 count in a women's soccer exhibition match Saturday afternoon in Cedar City.
SUU broke a scoreless match early in the 41
st-minute when Ally Thimsen scored to put the T-Birds on top at 1-0. The Trailblazers wasted little time netting the equalizer as senior
Megan Spencer (Provo, Utah/Springville HS) tied the match at 1-1 just 34 seconds later as she tucked home a goal thanks to feeds from freshman
Kilee Lamb (Smithfield, Utah/Sky View HS) and sophomore
Nichole Mertz (Springville, Utah/Springville HS).
Dixie State then took the lead just 4:29 into the second half when senior
Erica Gonzalez (Avondale, Ariz./Westview HS) found junior
Darian McCloy (Herriman, Utah/Herriman HS) for a score to give DSU a 2-1 lead. SUU came back to knot the match at 2-2 on a Meghan DeHerrera tally, and the Thunderbird forward Logan Harker netted the eventual game winner with just 3:31 remaining to close out the scoring.
"I think we were the better team for the first 75 minutes, we didn't finish some of our easy opportunities that would have allowed us to put the game away," DSU Head Coach
Kacey Bingham said. "SUU did a better job finishing the game. Overall, we played some good soccer and we are feeling good about starting [Pacific West] conference play [next week]."
SUU outshot Dixie State 12-5, including a 9-3 edge on goal, with five different Trailblazers accounting for each shot attempt. DSU senior goalkeeper
Angelica Ciucci (Stockholm, Sweden/Thorildsplans Gymnasium) made six saves in a losing effort.
Dixie State heads to southern California for two matches to open Pacific West Conference play next weekend, beginning with a date at Azusa Pacific on Thursday, Sept. 22, followed by a match at Point Loma on Saturday, Sept. 24.