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# Late-Game Goal Bites Gonzaga Once More in Season Opening 2-1 Loss to Utah
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/late-game-goal-gonzaga-womens-soccer-season-opening-loss-utah-utes/
- Published: 2025-08-15T17:16:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:58:46.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: News, Zags, Gonzaga, Bulldogs, Michaela McCollum, Katelyn Rigg, Shila Rasoul, Amelia Severn, Makayla Werner

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1080"\]

![  Gonzaga Bulldogs goalkeeper Michaela McCollum following a stop during a regular season game. Credit: Michaela McCollom/Instagram  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/464947113_1272402030450155_7215635973536061849_n-format-original-1.jpg)

Gonzaga Bulldogs goalkeeper Michaela McCollum following a stop during a regular season game. Credit: Michaela McCollom/Instagram \[/caption\]

For the second consecutive season, the Gonzaga Bulldogs women’s soccer team (0-1-0) suffered a 2-1 loss in its first game to the Utah Utes (1-0-0). Another trend from last year’s season opener in Salt Lake City was the Utes once again scoring the go-ahead and eventual game-winning goal in the waning moments of the game.

The final score occurred in the 90th minute in 2024 on a free kick. Although it wasn’t as late, the last goal scoring in the 79th minute this season hurts all the same for the Zags.

All three goals were scored in the second half as both defenses bared down in the opening 45 minutes, as well as possible jitters likely existing due to it being the first match of the season. But Utah set the tone early on, dominating the ball – holding possession for 66 percent of the first half. On the rare occasions the Zags controlled the ball, the Utes immediately hounded them and couldn’t push the ball down the field. Utah’s defensive pressure negated the Bulldogs from having space to create offense, leading to bad passes and the ball quickly going back the other way.

Initally, the Zags didn’t have a counter to how the Utes defended them. They couldn’t even muster a pass to a teammate for the most part before Utah regained possession. In the first half, Utah had 13 shots to Gonzaga’s four. This situation did provide immediate tests for Michaela McCollum, who is taking over as Gonzaga’s goalkeeper this season. The redshirt sophomore is starting in the net after appearing in four games in 2024, starting in three of them. She logged three saves in the first half as the Utes could not break through, even though they lived in Bulldogs territory for most of the first 45 minutes.

The Zags picked up the pace in the second half, as they began to move more off the ball and free up opportunities for themselves. After the ball was fetched by McCollum at 53’, she threw it out to freshman Samantha Snorsky, who pushed the ball upfield to junior Katelyn Rigg. Rigg battled with a Ute for the ball as they ran down the left sideline. She eventually outran her opponent, sliding to keep the ball in play while simultaneously serving it up in front of the net, where junior Shila Rasoul was waiting.

Rasoul headed the ball over the top of a defender and past Utah’s keeper Erin Gibbs into the net for her first goal as a Zag and the Bulldogs’ first score of 2025.

The Utes responded 15 minutes later, however, as freshman Julie Oka fired the ball just off the top of McCollum’s fingertips. Reaching up to save it, McCollum pushed the ball off the crossbar above and down into the net behind her, knotting the score at one. In the 79th minute, Utah’s Grace Watkins evaded three Zags defenders as she made her way to the corner and flipped the ball in front of the net. Just like the game’s first score, the final goal came on a header as well, as Kelly Bullock knocked it in the right side of the net. McCollum waited in the center of the goal to react as the pass was in the air, leaving her out of position to make a play on the ball.

With the Bulldogs desperately attempting to tie it up, a game of pinball was played as the Utes tried to play keep away. Rasoul had a chance to tie it up in the winding seconds of the game once the ball took an awkward bounce after a header. She was left relatively alone, but being decently far away from the goal, her shot faded to the right of the net as time expired.

Gonzaga had just three shots on goal and 11 shots overall in 90 minutes, while Utah put up 18 shots, seven of them being at the nets. McCollum tallied five saves as she played every second. It was a relatively quiet night for the Zags’ Amelia Severn and Makayla Werner, who have earned awards over the last year. Severn was named to the WCC All-Freshmen team in 2024 after leading the conference with seven assists, but was denied on her team-high four shots in the season opener. Werner received Preseason All-WCC Honors before her junior campaign, but was also contained by the Utes’ midfield in this one.

This was the first of five straight home games to begin the season for Gonzaga. They will have a week and a half before their next match, which will be against Simon Fraser on August 24 at Luger Field at 1 PM PT.