Second-Half Flurry Leads Utah State Over Weber State at Rio Tinto Stadium, Friday
SANDY, Utah – For the second-straight season, Utah State women’s soccer took advantage of its “home away from home” earning a 2-1 win against in-state rival Weber State at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. Last season, the Aggies defeated Utah by an identical 2-1 score in the first match at the home of MLS champion Real Salt Lake.
Utah State improved to 1-0-0 in its season opener, winning its second-straight home opener and third in the last four years. Weber State fell to 0-1-0 in its opener. In the first match of the doubleheader, Utah Valley shut out Southern Utah, 2-0.
“At half, you can keep that momentum or you can let it shift. I think we did a really good job at keeping the momentum. They stayed really focused and positive. We had 17 shots and scored on the 15th and 17th. It took a lot for our team to stay disciplined in our position and not letting them counter attack. We had two great goals. Flanary and Hansen area great duo. A diving header, that’s a great goal. The last shot was great as well,” USU head coach Heather Cairns said.
The first half was quiet for both teams. The Aggies out-shot the Wildcats 7-4 in the first half and 17-8 for the match. Junior forward Shantel Flanary had four shots in the first half, one on goal. Senior Lauren Hansen added two shots in the first 45 minutes.
In the second half, the Aggies increased the pressure with 10 second-half shots. Flanary who scored the game-winning goal against Utah in 2009, scored Utah State’s first goal of the 2010 season in the 81st minute. The WAC’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year took a ball from Hansen and used an impressive diving header from eight yards out to give the Aggies the 1-0 lead.
“It was totally a team effort, so I can’t take all the credit. I obviously couldn’t have scored that without Lauren’s (Hansen) hard work to get down the line, but it definitely sets the tone, and it feels good,” Flanary said.
Less than five minutes later, Hansen added a goal of her own to give the Aggies the 2-0 lead with less than five minutes remaining in the match. The senior’s goal was a 22-yard blast past Weber State goalkeeper Ryann Waldman,
Weber State cut the lead in half with a late second-half goal. Ari Wood scored the first Wildcat goal of 2010 off the pass from Jesse Baddley in the 89th minute to cut the lead to 2-1. Wood’s shot hit off the cross bar and went in the goal just past USU goalkeeper Molli Merrill.
This was the first time since the 2007 season that Utah State and Weber State have met. In that match, Hansen also scored the game-winning goal in the Aggies’ 4-3 win in Ogden. Hansen now has nine game-winning goals in her USU career.
Utah State is back in action on Sunday, Aug. 22 against another in-state rival Utah Valley at 1 p.m.
Fans can follow USU soccer at http://twitter.com/USUsoccer and Utah State athletics at http://twitter.com/USUAthletics.
GOALS BY PERIOD 1st 2nd Total
Utah State 0 2 2
Weber State 0 1 1
SHOTS BY PERIOD 1st 2nd Total
Utah State 7 10 17
Weber State 4 4 8
SAVES BY PERIOD 1st 2nd Total
Utah State 3 0 3
Weber State 2 2 4
CORNERS BY PERIOD 1st 2nd Total
Utah State 1 4 5
Weber State 0 0 0
FOULS BY PERIOD 1st 2nd Total
Utah State 5 1 6
Weber State 4 2 6