The Horned Frogs’ dreams of finally succeeding to the second round of the Mountain West Conference championship tournament were crushed Wednesday as the Utah Utes defeated the team 3-1 in the opening round of tournament play in Provo, Utah.

Just over mid-way into the half, the Utes took their third corner kick of the game. The ball was deflected to Ute sophomore defender Lauren Dudley, who then passed to senior forward Kelly Isleib, who proceeded to take a few touches before shooting into the upper right corner of the net for the first goal of the game.

Ten minutes into the second half, Utah struck again. On a free kick from junior midfielder Morgan Skeen, sophomore midfielder Lauren Porter put a second point on the board with a header into the back of the Horned Frogs’ net.

The Utes continued their offensive attack in the form of sophomore forward Erin Dalley, who broke through the Horned Frogs’ defense, dribbled around junior goalkeeper Kelsey Walters, and passed the ball across the line for the third and final Ute goal of the game.

Sophomore forward Kaylie Garcia scored the lone goal for the Horned Frogs off of a left-footed shot with only 11 minutes left in the match.

“Simply, the better team won today,” said head coach Dan Abdalla. “We didn’t take advantage of our chances that we created today, but it has been that type of year for us. We have had a lot of adversity this fall, but that falls on our shoulders as coaches.”

Between the posts, Walters recorded 10 saves for the Horned Frogs, while Ute sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Turpen came up with four in the match.

The Horned Frogs were outshot 18-8 by the Utes and also edged out on corner kicks 7-1. Garcia, senior forward Lizzy Karoly and sophomore defender Katie Taylor all tallied two shots each.

The loss ended the Horned Frogs’ season with a 9-10-0 overall record and was a disappointing end of college soccer careers for seniors Karoly, midfielder Michelle Nguyen and midfielder Kelly Faerber. The three players were part of 37 Horned Frog wins and three straight postseason appearances.

In positive news for the Horned Frogs, junior forward Jackie Torda received second team all-conference honors Tuesday night at the pre-championship banquet. Torda, who has four goals and one assist for the season, led the offense during conference play and ranked in the top 10 in four different offensive categories. Torda stands at No. 6 in all-time career goals with 16.

“We have to do a better job of raising the expectations and standards…We have the talent, we just have to go back now and start preparing for next year,” Abdalla said of the end of the Horned Frogs’ season and 2009 conference campaign.

With their win, the Utes will advance and play No. 2 San Diego State University at 1 p.m. today in a match that will be televised on the Mtn. Network.