@UNCBearsSoccer Tops Thunderbirds 3-1

Friday, October 13

Cedar City, Utah

4:00 pm

University of Northern Colorado

10-6 (4-3BSC)

Southern Utah University

4-11 (3-4BSC)

Northern Colorado

Southern Utah

10/13/2017 6:16:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

Mariel Gutierrez and Olivia Seddon Provide Bears Offense

By: By: Charlie Snelson

CEDAR CITY, Utah – Southern Utah came in with a three-match home winning streak, but the Bears came out firing and found their way to a 3-1 Big Sky Conference victory on the road on Friday evening at Thunderbird Sports Complex. The two teams were tied coming into Friday's contest with identical 3-3 conference records.

Olivia Seddon and Mariel Gutierrez strong games for the Bears helped lead the team to victory. Seddon scored her second goal of the season shortly after the game's start and had five shot attempts, with one attempt going off the crossbar. Mariel Gutierrez scored UNC's second and third goals and assisted on Seddon's goal. She recorded three shot attempts.

"We thought it was a good idea to move Mariel to center midfield so she could go out there and play-make a little bit and she had a good day," said Bears head coach Tim Barrera. "We played well in an important match. Looking forward to the next one against Montana."

First Half:
In the ninth minute of the match, Olivia Seddon took a shot from well outside the box and the ball went off the left post and in to give the Bears the early lead. It was Seddon's second goal of the season. Mariel Gutierrez picked up her sixth assist.

Four minutes after Northern Colorado's first goal, a great scoring chance developed for Southern Utah. Northern Colorado goalkeeper Madeline Burdick came out to contest a shot by MaKenzie Lawrence and made a great save having deflected the close-range shot. Then when the ball came back to Lawrence, she fired it over the goal.

In the 32nd minute, Jessica French tied the game at one. She found herself in perfect position when the ball found her foot in front of the UNC goal after a corner kick by Payton Wells. French immediately buried it in the center of the goal from five feet out.

With time winding down in the first half, Mariel Gutierrez found room in the lower left corner of the net with a well-placed shot. Her goal came in the 43rd minute and gave the Bears momentum heading into the second half.

Both teams generated a lot of offensive chances in the first half and each team finished the first 45 minutes with three shots on goal.

Second Half:
Olivia Seddon started the second half looping a long shot from the right side off the crossbar in the 47th minute, but the score remained 2-1 in favor of Northern Colorado.

Mariel Gutierrez scored her second goal of the game giving UNC a much-needed insurance in the 80th minute of the match.

Gutierrez and Anika Shelrud led the Bears with a full 90 minutes played and Madeline Burdick stopped two of three shots on goal to get the win.

"It was a solid win for us. Southern Utah is much better than last year," said Barrera. "There was a lot of space out wide for both teams because it was such a windy day too. We played well in an important match and we're looking forward to the next one against Montana."

What's Next:
The Bears (10-6-0, 4-3-0 Big Sky) have just three regular season matches left to play. All of them are against Big Sky foes. On October 20th, they welcome Montana (8-5-2, 3-1-1 Big Sky) to Greeley in the final home match of the season. The game is scheduled for 6 pm. UNC finishes the regular season on the road taking on Portland State (7-6-0, 4-1-0 Big Sky) and North Dakota.