Utah Red Wolves take over 1st place in Mountain division after 2 narrow victories
Utah Red Wolves take over 1st place in Mountain division after 2 narrow victories
After a slow start to the USL2 season, the two-time defending Mountain Division champion Utah Red Wolves now find themselves atop the division standings.
SALT LAKE CITY — After a slow start to the USL League Two season, the two-time defending Mountain division champion Utah Red Wolves now find themselves atop the division standings.
Prior to their June 10 road match against New Mexico United, the Red Wolves occupied last place after two disappointing ties to start the season. Now, the club is in firm control of their playoff destiny as they approach the midway point of the 10-match regular season following wins over New Mexico United and in-state rival Salt City SC.
The Red Wolves largely controlled possession for the majority of the match Saturday evening at Judge Memorial Catholic High School. However, the squad was unable to find clean goal scoring opportunities thanks to a feisty Salt City SC defense.
It took a fortunate deflection off the head of a Salt City defender in the 82nd minute for the Red Wolves to finally break the stalemate, which came thanks to an outstanding strike from midfielder Omar Gomez. Before the ball could hit the ground, Gomez gathered and fired it past the Salt City goalkeeper from well beyond the penalty area for the only goal of the contest.
An outstanding diving save by Red Wolves goalkeeper Jason Smith in the final play of the match narrowly preserved the victory.
Speaking about his team’s performance, head coach Scott Mackenzie said the following:
“I thought we were resilient, and I thought we were tough. I thought we were patient, and we knew that if we kept to the game plan and kept pushing, we’d have the quality in this squad to come out on top. And tonight, it took a magic moment against a really, really top squad.”
As the Red Wolves head toward the home stretch of the season, Mackenzie had the following thoughts about the road ahead:
“What I think is about to happen is, we’ve had our hard fought ones. We’ve beaten good teams. We’ve shown that we have the quality to do it. The floodgates are going to open and I’m excited about the future.”
The Red Wolves now head to Colorado for two road matchups against Boulder County United and Colorado International Soccer Academy (CISA) on June 22 and 24, respectively.
Utah returns home to Judge Memorial on June 29 to face Boulder County United, followed by a July 1 contest against Flatirons Rush SC. Both matches will kick off at 7:30 p.m. with the gates opening at 6:30 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased at the gate for $10 apiece.
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