Ella Rusick Has Scored All Three of Utah Tech's Goals This Season

Utah Tech women's soccer has scored three goals in 2026. Ella Rusick has scored all three of them.

The sophomore forward pulled the Trailblazers within a goal twice in three second-half minutes at UC San Diego on Friday, August 15, and while Utah Tech could not complete the comeback in a 4-2 loss, the box score told a cleaner story than the result did: through two matches in the program's first Big Sky season, every Utah Tech goal belongs to Rusick.

A two-goal, three-minute burst at UC San Diego

Utah Tech was already chasing the match before Rusick reshaped the second half. In the 72nd minute she collected a setup from Lataya Brost, read the goalkeeper off her line and floated a finish up and over her into the net. Three minutes later, in the 75th, Abby Olsen slid a stretch pass through the UC San Diego back line and Rusick lofted a perfect ball over the keeper again, this time nestling it into the upper-right corner.

Two goals, two chips, roughly three minutes apart. The 4-2 final still went to UC San Diego, and Utah Tech fell to 0-1-1 on the young season, but Rusick's second-half brace was the kind of sequence that travels well beyond a box score — the same difficult finish, executed twice, the second time against a goalkeeper who had every reason to expect it. That the burst came after the match had already gotten away from the Trailblazers makes it more telling, not less: a young team on the road can fold when a result slips out of reach, and instead Utah Tech's most productive attacker kept manufacturing chances until the final margin read like a competitive game.

It started 64 seconds into the season

Rusick's third goal of 2026 was not her first flourish. In Utah Tech's season opener at UC Irvine on August 12, she needed just 1 minute and 4 seconds to score — 64 seconds into the Trailblazers' first official match of the year. Channing Wuest and Lataya Brost were credited with assists on the opening strike, and the early lead held until UC Irvine equalized in the 76th minute for a 1-1 draw.

Put the two matches together and the line is striking: Utah Tech has generated exactly three goals in 2026, and Rusick has authored all of them — the fastest goal of the Trailblazers' season, then a two-goal burst on the road. Brost has now assisted two of the three, with Wuest and Olsen contributing one each, so the supply line is beginning to have names attached to it as well.

A first-mover in Utah Tech's Big Sky debut

The timing matters. Utah Tech is playing its first season in the Big Sky Conference in 2026, a step up the women's soccer program spent the offseason preparing for. Early nonconference matches against Division I opponents like UC Irvine and UC San Diego are exactly the measuring sticks a program uses to learn where it stands — and in both, the answer has run through the same player.

Two matches is a small sample, and a 0-1-1 start is not the record Utah Tech wants. But identifying a reliable source of goals this early is its own kind of head start. Rusick has scored in both matches, from open play, with finishes that require composure rather than luck: a first-minute strike and two chips over an advancing goalkeeper are repeatable skills, not deflections. For a roster adjusting to a new level, that is a foundation to build on rather than a fluke to explain.

What to watch next

The open question now is whether Rusick can keep carrying the load — and whether Utah Tech can develop a second and third scoring threat around her before Big Sky play arrives. Brost's early assist total suggests a connection worth tracking, and the Trailblazers' next matches will show whether other names begin to appear on the score sheet. A forward who has scored every one of her team's goals is both a strength to celebrate and a dependency to resolve.

For now, the marker is simple and verified: three Utah Tech goals in 2026, all of them Ella Rusick's. That is a name Utah soccer fans can start learning.

Key facts:

• Player: Ella Rusick, sophomore forward, Utah Tech women's soccer
• 2026 production: Three goals in two matches — all three of Utah Tech's goals this season
• Latest: Two goals (72nd and 75th minutes) in a 4-2 loss at UC San Diego on August 15, 2026; assists from Lataya Brost and Abby Olsen
• Season opener: Scored 1:04 into Utah Tech's 1-1 draw at UC Irvine on August 12, 2026; assists from Channing Wuest and Lataya Brost
• Team context: Utah Tech is 0-1-1 in its first Big Sky Conference season
• Signature trait: Both UC San Diego goals were chipped finishes lofted over an advancing goalkeeper