Soccer Lanx

Conference weekend we went down to St. George and Las Vegas to support Lanx as her UVU team played Dixie State and UNLV. Unfortunately they lost both games. :( It was still fun to see her play though. I love when she gets pushy and aggressive because anyone who knows Lanx knows that's not like her. She's a really great player and I'm excited to be able to continue watching her throughout her college career. Here's what the Salt Lake Tribune had to say about her too:

UVSC soccer
Bluth finds her place on the fieldFormer Hillcrest standout is contributing as a freshman but is expected to gain even more playing time soon
By Ben Webster
Special to The Tribune
Article Last Updated: 10/04/2007 03:22:04 PM MDT


With a packed roster of freshmen on the UVSC women's soccer team, there are good things and a few bad things about being a first-year player.
Not only do the 12 freshmen get to go through the growing pains together, they also get a lot of playing time, though the minutes may come in losses.
The team is winless through four games.
But while some freshmen struggle to get on the field during their first year at college, former Hillcrest High soccer player Lauren Bluth is seeing more and more playing time as the season goes on.
"She's one of our best 13, 14 players," UVSC coach Brent Anderson said. "We expect her to be competing for a starting position."
Anderson also expects Bluth to contribute more than just minutes to his team.
He knows she can be a scoring leader, if not this year, soon.
"We expect her to be challenging scoring records and assist records. She's that talented and if she works hard at it she'll be scoring for us," Anderson said.
Playing midfield, she's already the first player off the bench most games, if she doesn't start the game.
And although she is getting the minutes she is still making the adjustment to playing in college.
One of the adjustments for Bluth, who earned first-team, all-region honors in her senior year by scoring 10 goals and dishing out nine assists, is not being a scoring threat yet.




"Part of the reason I'm not a scorer or shooting the ball more is because I feel like I need to be 100 percent a team player," Bluth said. "I'm starting to gain more confidence in taking people on and that will come with experience."
Anderson saw what he wanted for his team when he watched Bluth play in high school and for her club team.
"I watched her play in high school and with her club and the thing I liked is her attacking mentality. She would play defense and fly up and be a part of a goal," Anderson said.
Of course Anderson wants to see the kind of scoring production she had her senior year as soon as possible.
The veterans are getting used to playing with the younger players as well and UVSC forwards are recognizing the benefits of Bluth's efforts.
"She's good on the outside," said Jenni Clough, a junior who currently is tied for the school record in goals scored with 13. "We didn't have many outside players, I think we had two that played with us last year so it's nice to be able to mix it up."
Anderson has seen the growing pains from playing several freshmen but he is also excited about the possibilities Bluth and her young teammates will bring to the program. He said he doesn't want UVSC to be rebuilding every year like it has been doing for a number of years.
Bluth decided to go to UVSC but she wasn't sure how long she plannedto stay. After a couple of weeks she may still leave but she would like to stay all four years.
"I'm going to keep going. I still don't know what I want to do but the way it's going I don't want to change things," Bluth said.
Anderson wants the same for Bluth and the rest of his freshmen.

Impact player
* Lauren Bluth is a freshman midfielder at Utah Valley State College.
* Bluth scored 10 goals and had nine assists in her senior year at Hillcrest High School.
* Bluth has started a few games for UVSC and when she doesn't start she is usually the first player off the bench.