USU women’s soccer defeats WSU
The Utah State University women’s soccer team started the season on a low note.
The Aggies fell 3-1 Friday at Idaho State University but put a positive spin on its season by shutting out the Weber State Wildcats 2-0 Monday with a solid defensive performance.
The Aggies (1-1) had not beaten Weber State (1-1) since 1999. Add in the fact the Wildcats and Aggies are big in-state rivals and this was a game Utah State did not want to lose.
“We don’t want to lose to them,” said Utah State forward Lacey Poulton. “We want people to know who Utah State is.”
The game was the first official contest on Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field.
The Aggies dominated the first half, knocking in the only two goals of the game on two shots and allowing Weber State one shot on goal.
Aggie forward Amber Tracy scored first for Utah State off of a penalty kick about eight minutes into the match.
Tracy sprained her medial collateral ligament early in the second half, but said it shouldn’t keep her out of the next game.
“It was a fluke injury,” she said. “I went for the ball and hit it, and it just twisted.”
The second goal for Utah State came as Claire Schend received the ball coming down the far right side of the field and made a diagonal pass to the middle of the penalty box where Poulton booted the ball in to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead that would stick for the rest of the game.
Poulton’s goal was her first as an Aggie.
Weber State was heavily pressured by Utah State’s defense. The Aggies constantly cleared the ball away on corner kicks and during the Wildcats’ attacks.
The Aggies allowed the Wildcats two shots on goal the entire game.
Utah State goalkeepers Megan Mills and Amy Johnsen each recorded one save.
“They ran circles around us,” said Weber State Co-Head Coach Lynn Kofoed. “They were more fit than us and wanted the win more. I’m not terribly happy with our performance.”
Weber State’s two shots on goal came from defender Erin Smith and midfielder Anna Neisen.
Wildcat goalkeeper Melanie Stratford posted four saves on six Aggie shots on goal.
The Aggies and Wildcats both began their women’s soccer programs in 1996. The all-time series now stands at 3-3-1 and Utah State is now 2-2 at home versus the Wildcats.
The Aggies lost 3-1 Friday evening in Pocatello, Idaho to the Idaho State Bengals.
The Bengals only goal of the first half was ruled an own goal because it bounced off of Aggie defender Melissa Baggaley’s head and into the USU goal.
USU Head Coach Jen Kennedy Croft said the lack of communication on the play was to blame.
Aggie forward Brigid Turner scored Utah State’s only goal off of a penalty kick in the 70th minute. The Aggies allowed two more goals in the second half but Croft said she was not totally disappointed with the Aggies’ performance because the team never gave up.
“One loss is nothing in the big scheme of things,” Croft said. “We have determination and depth and we know what we need to work on.”
Mills posted four saves, all coming in the first half.
Friday’s loss was the fourth consecutive opening-game loss for the Aggies. Utah State has only won the season opening game once in their seven years as a Division I program.
Up next for the Aggies are the Sacramento State Hornets (0-2) Friday at 3 p.m. on the Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field. The Aggies and Hornets have met only one other time. In 1997, the Hornets beat the Aggies 3-0 in Sacramento, Calif.
– samhis@cc.usu.edu