USU men’s soccer team plays to 0-0 tie against Wolverines
The Utah State’s men’s soccer team was unable to convert on two crucial corner kicks late in the game, ending the contest in a 0-0 tie with Utah Valley University, Saturday afternoon at the Tower Fields.
The team, although obviously let down about not chalking up a win, was optimistic about their performance and progress.
“At the end of every tie game, there’s a team that’s happy to have escaped and a team that’s upset about not putting it away,” said Coach Mogie, as he likes to be called. “Today we were the latter.”
Although the Aggies had the momentum late in the game and had two more shots on goal than the Wolverines, they struggled early on to find their rhythm. UVU controlled the ball early and often through the majority of the first half and start of the second, forcing the Aggies to play defensively and limiting their number of good looks at the goal.
“We had some breakdowns out there,” said Darin Christensen, a senior and six-year veteran of the team, speaking of the first half.
The game was still scoreless at halftime, but the Aggies showed signs of improvement as the second half unraveled. Slowly, they picked apart the Wolverine defensive strategy and played more aggressive soccer.
“We started to pull it together and control the center,” said Greg Larsen, a junior in his third season with the team.
The cheers of the few Aggie faithfuls present grew louder as the game clock winded down, and the pressure to score grew stronger. By this time, Utah State was in the driver’s seat.
With just less than five minutes remaining, the Aggies were granted a corner kick. Larsen placed the kick carefully into the center of the goalie box, where it was met by the stretching necks of nearly every player on the field. But the score attempt was thwarted by Utah Valley goalkeeper Spencer Nielson, who made several critical saves throughout the match. This was seen by some as an act of treason, seeing as Nielson was Utah State’s starting keeper last season before transferring to Utah Valley. Nielson went on to make another save on a similar attempt only a few minutes later, which proved to be the Aggies’ last shot.
“We missed some golden opportunities,” said Jeff Kelly, a senior and four-year veteran of the the team. “But we’ve come a long way. We’ve got an awesome team with a lot of talent.”
-jackson.olsen@aggiemail.usu.edu