After a 4-1 loss to San Diego State on Friday, the Horned Frogs will begin postseason play Wednesday against the Utah Utes in the opening round of the 2009 Mountain West Conference Championship.
The Horned Frogs, ranked No. 6 in the MWC, ended their regular season with a 9-9-0 overall record and a 2-5-0 MWC record. The Utes will head into Wednesday’s match ranked No. 3 in the MWC with an overall record of 9-9-2 and stand at 4-2-1 in the MWC.
Utah holds a 4-3 record over TCU in past matches. Oct. 15 was the last time the Utes faced the Horned Frogs; the match ended in a 3-1 Ute victory in Utah. The Utes gained their eighth top-three finish in conference play this year and their fifth in eight years under head coach Rich Manning.
In their most recent game, the Utes put a close to their season with a 3-0 shutout over Air Force, thanks to sophomore forward Erin Dalley, who netted two of the three goals. Dalley was second in scoring for the Utes this season with seven goals and 14 points. Senior forward Kelly Isleib leads the Utes on offense with seven goals and 19 points.
The Horned Frogs tallied a total of 31 goals this season, led by sophomore forward Jordan Calhoun in season play with eight goals, six assists for a total of 22 points on the year. Senior forward Lizzy Karoly followed with five goals and one assist on the season for 11 points. Neither player registered a point in conference play.
During MWC matches, junior forward Jackie Torda scored twice and five other Horned Frogs each added one goal.
On the defensive end, junior goalkeeper Kelsey Walters started 15 of 18 games between the posts, including all seven MWC matches. Walters ended the regular season with a total of 54 saves, a save percentage of .659 and a goals-against-average record of 1.82.
Overall, the Horned Frogs stand at 1-3-0 in conference tournament action. The 2008 tournament saw them fall 2-1 to Utah in an overtime semifinal battle, thus the Horned Frogs will be looking to advance to the championship round of play for the first time in the program’s history.
All MWC conference championship games will be played in Provo, Utah, on BYU’s field.
Start time for the match is set for 1 p.m Nov. 4.
