Salt City College Soccer Player of the Week: Taliana Kaufusi, FW, Utah
Salt City College Soccer Player of the Week: Taliana Kaufusi, FW, Utah
Every week of the 2024 season, Salt City FC will recognize a top Division I women's soccer player from Utah for excellence on the field.
A bit of history was made last week on the University of Utah’s soccer pitch at Ute Field, and not just because the Utes won their first-ever Big 12 match against former Pac-12 rival Arizona.
Taliana Kaufusi recorded her second hat trick of the season in a 4-1 win over Idaho State on Sunday, a few days after tallying an assist in a 1-0 win over the Wildcats.
For her efforts, the senior forward from Salt Lake City was named Big 12 Offensive Player of the Week, and became the first Utah player to capture Salt City College Soccer Player of the Week honors.
The three-goal performance against the Bengals was Kaufusi’s second in 14 days, becoming just the second Utah player in program history with multiple hat tricks in the same season — and the first in 28 seasons, since Jackie Doman in 1996.
With the offensive output, Kaufusi, a graduate student from Highland High, boosted her career offensive output with the Utes to 26 goals and four assists in 81 matches over the past five years. That includes a team-high nine goals in eight matches in 2024.
