CEDAR CITY, UTAH -- The Thunderbirds gave up two goals in the first half, but battled hard in the second, scoring a goal and creating a lot of chances late in the second half, but ultimately came up short, and dropped the conference opener to Utah Tech, 2-1.

Head Coach Kai Edwards said

"Good hard battle conference game. Both teams competed and had some very good moments. They scored one more than we did and that was the difference. Proud of the collective effort from all."

Coach Edwards' postgame interview

HIGHLIGHTS

Game Recap

The Trailblazers opened the scoring relatively quickly on a deep strike from Kyah Le in the 16th minute. Jazmyn Brass did everything she could, but the ball just sailed over her fingertips and into the back of the net.

Then, in the 36th minute, Jocelyn Wright just fired a shot on net, and Brass was unable to control the shot, and it dribbled into the side of the net. The Trailblazers took a 2-0 lead into the break.

The Thunderbirds started the second half on fire, and just 90 seconds into the half, Kayleigh Acree netted her first goal in a Thunderbird uniform off an unbelievable assist from Whitney Gardner, who adds to her SUU all-time lead in total points, now up to 49.

SUU had multiple chances in the second half, particularly a header from Sarah Assumma that ricocheted off the left post, but the team just couldn't net the equalizing goal, and UT escaped with a 2-1 win.

Statistical Recap

The Thunderbirds tied the Trailblazers with nine shots apiece, with five on target, and seven of those shots came in the second half for SUU.

The T-Birds earned five corner kicks and drew 11 fouls on the Trailblazers.

Whitney Gardner and Kayleigh Acree led the team in total shots and shots on goal with two each. Assumma also had two shots and earned the secondary assist on the T-Bird goal.

Nao Yasuda, Sicily Clark, and Brooklyn Bradley were unbelievable defensively for the Thunderbirds. Each played the full 90 minutes and kept the high-powered UT offense to just nine total shots.

Jazmyn Brass recorded three saves in the match.

Up Next

The Thunderbirds will hit the road for the first time in over a month as they head to Stephenville, Texas, to face the Texans of Tarleton State on Thursday, October 2. The game will kick off at 6:00 p.m.

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