St. George, Utah - A pair of second half goals by Utah Tech allowed the Trailblazers to defeat Nevada soccer 2-1 Sunday at Greater Zion Stadium.
Fifth year midfielder Luz Arreaga scored her second goal of the season in the 15th minute, having back-to-back games with a goal. Redshirt freshman Ally Larkin came up with a career-high seven saves in her second start at goalkeeper.
Using three goals to collect a come from behind draw on Friday at Southern Utah, Nevada traveled its fire-powering offensive attack to St. George. Continuing the offensive momentum with three shots in the opening 10 minutes, Nevada executed on its second corner kick of the afternoon.
Junior midfielder Penny Murphy made a pass off the corner to an open Abigail Souza, whose shot just met the Utah Tech goalkeeper. Arreaga, however, quickly snatched the ball off the rebound and drained it in the back of the net to give Nevada the go-ahead lead.
Controlling the possession for the first 45 minutes, Nevada forced Utah Tech into only three shots and two shots on goal to maintain the lead going into halftime.
Utah Tech looked for the equalizer goal early in the second half, quickly firing a shot on goal that resulted in a save for Larkin. The Trailblazers drew a free kick opportunity in the 51st minute, with Utah Tech's Emily Garbett sinking the goal from 20 yards out to make it a 1-1 match.
After Nevada had a trio of shots that narrowly missed the goal, Utah Tech responded with a pair of shots of their own. Utah Tech's Lacy Fox had two on goal chances, but Larkin came up with the saves that kept the score tied with 17 minutes left.
Fox continued to lead the Utah Tech attack and found the back of the net off the assist from Brynlee Rider to put the Trailblazers ahead 2-1 in the 79th minute. Utah Tech held Nevada scoreless in the final 10 minutes that allowed the Trailblazers to come away with the win.
Nevada goes back on the road Thursday at Idaho before its home opener at Mackay Stadium Sept. 3 against UC Riverside at 12 p.m.
Notes
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