Ags fight for tourney seeding
One of the goals for the Utah State soccer team was to clinch a spot in the Western Athletic Conference tournament before the last weekend of the season.
The Aggies accomplished that thanks to their tie with Fresno State on Sunday afternoon. Now the Ags are jockeying for position in their last two home games this weekend.
Utah State will finish the season hosting Boise State Friday at 4 p.m. and Idaho Sunday at noon.
“It’s a great weekend for us,” Utah State Head Coach Heather Cairns said. “We’re home and Parents Day is Friday and Senior Day is Sunday. Hopefully that will put a little spring in our step.”
Over their last three games the Ags are 3-2-1, with two of those games going into overtime. If the Aggies win both games this weekend they could realistically finish tied for third in the conference.
Currently Utah State sits in sixth place with seven points while Boise State and San Jose State are tied for fourth with nine and Fresno State is in third with 10. Since the Ags play Boise Friday they control their destiny with regards to at least fifth place. Two wins against Boise and Idaho would give the Ags fifth place at least.
The best case scenario is that Fresno State beats San Jose State on Friday then the Bulldogs lose to Hawai’i on Sunday to finish with 13 points. If Nevada lost both their games the Aggies and Bulldogs would be tied for second.
The first tiebreaker for the WAC is head-to-head record which wouldn’t matter because Fresno and Utah State tied on Sunday so the second tiebreaker would be the determiner. The team’s record against the top team in the conference would determine who was in second place. The top team would be Hawai’i, who the Aggies beat two weeks ago and Fresno State plays on Sunday.
While the seeding is important other things still matter for the Ags. Rachelle Dixon injured her knee during the Nevada game last Friday. She is currently doing rehab for two days before some functional testing on Thursday, Cairns said. She said she believes it’s a partial tear, which could mean its a little or a lot.
Boise State will be a tough game where the Ags will have to play well to win because the Broncos won’t give anything to the Aggies, Cairns said.
Idaho has had problems scoring this season but they haven’t had problems possessing the ball, Cairns said. Possession is one of the things she said she would like to see the Ags improve on.
“This past weekend we didn’t do as good a job possessing the ball,” Cairns said. “We need to fill the midfielders in when we attack because then we have more chances in the attacking third.”
-krn@cc.usu.edu