Ags eager to improve on last season
Call it a transition year.
The Utah State women’s soccer team lost Brigid Turner, who finished her career second in goals scored (32) and points (72) in school history.
Turner’s graduation leaves an offensive void that new Head Coach Heather Cairns is prepared to deal with.
“The biggest challenge we are going to have is replacing Brigid Turner,” Cairns said. “She was the all-everything in our program in the past. I’m pretty pleased that we have a lot of people stepping up that can make an impact.”
The Aggies return 14 letterwinners from last season, including six starters.
Utah State begins the season Wednesday with an exhibition game at Dixie State, followed by a contest at Southern Utah on Friday. The Aggies will round out their roadtrip Sunday at UNLV.
The first home game is Sept. 7 against Idaho State at 1 p.m. at the Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field.
“It’s going to be a tough [schedule] from top to bottom,” Cairns said. “But we’ve divided it into two sections – non-conference and then conference.”
Cairns said the positive with conference play is that the team gets a fresh start halfway through the
season.
Utah State is 1-0 against Dixie State, defeating the Rebels 4-2 last season. SUU returns seven starters and 11 letterwinners from last year’s squad that finished 2-17-0 overall and 1-4-0 in the Mid-Continent Conference.
The Thunderbirds fell 1-0 to Oral Roberts in the Mid-Continent semifinal.
“Southern Utah is a newer program, but it is definitely solid,” Cairns said.
Utah State defeated Southern Utah 6-1 last
season.
The Aggies face an experienced UNLV team, returning 15 starters and 21 letterwinners from last year. The Rebels went 10-8-1 on the year and finished tied for fifth in the Mountain West Conference.
UNLV is 3-1 against Utah State, including a 2-0 victory in 2001.
Last season, Utah State finished 8-9-3 overall and ninth in the Big West Conference.
-juag@cc.usu.edu