Ag soccer falls in final minutes to No. 23 BYU
The USU women’s soccer team may not have left Provo with a win Thursday evening, falling 2-1, but they did leave some marks on the Brigham Young University team that will be remembered.
Up to this game, BYU, which is ranked No. 23, had only had two goals scored on them all season and had never been outshot in the first half. The Aggies changed all that.
In the 18th minute of play, junior forward Candice Clark, a native of Provo, squeezed between two BYU defenders and took a feed from teammates Stefani Shiozaki and Dana Peart, and drilled the ball in from the left post 12 yards out. The goal marks Clark’s first of the season, as she is coming off an injury that has limited her playing time. The assist was also a first for freshman midfielder Shiozaki.
“Every single Aggie that set foot on the field today made a difference,” USU Head Coach Heather Cairns said. “Everyone made big plays today. It was a super team effort. (Shiozaki) was in the game, it was first touch, gave it to Dana, who passed it to Candice for the score.”
USU, who has a veritable arsenal of shooters in the attack, was limited in its shooting opportunities but threatening when they did get through the Cougar defense, Cairns said.
“This game, neither team had as many opportunities,” Cairns said. “It was a middle third type game. But it was just better defense and a better game all around than against Montana. When you increase the caliber of play, you get less opportunties to score.”
The Aggies outshot the Cougars 4-2 in the first half, which is the first time this season the Cougars have been outshot in the first half. All four USU shots were on goal, and one of them went through.
Clark was critical in the Aggie attack today, Cairns said. Playing 58 minutes, Clark had one goal, two shots on goal and another goal that was called back due to a handball call.
Despite the successes for the Aggies, the end result was a disappointing flashback of last season’s game in Logan, minus the snow. With just over two minutes left in the game, Cougar standout Katie Larkin, who leads the Mountain West Conference in game-winning goals with eight, added to those numbers by scoring an unassisted goal on Aggie goalkeeper Ali Griffin. This marks the second year in a row Larkin scored the game-winning goal on the Aggies, as she nailed a long shot in overtime last season to defeat the Aggies 1-0. USU has never defeated the Cougars in soccer.
“That’s what we’re kind of bummed about,” Cairns said of Larkin’s repeat game-winning goal. “I think she only got one shot on the goal. She’s a left-footed player. We made Dana beat Larkin. They weren’t allowed to let her go to the left. We did such a good job at that and the one time we let her through with her left foot she makes us pay for it. She is worth all the hype. She is a special player.”
Limiting Larkin to one goal was no small feat. Larkin leads the Cougars in shots with 36 and has scored nine goals and tabbed two assists, one of those coming against the Aggies.
Even though Larkin is the clear leader and threat on the Cougars’ offense, Cairns said she was focused on containing all their players.
Despite the containment attempt, the Cougars still got on the board first. BYU defender Amanda Draeger took an assist from Larkin and shot from 25 yards out to give the Cougars an early 1-0 lead. It was Draeger’s first goal of the season, making her just one of three Cougars to have scored this season.
Another Cougar player had an opportunity to score off an Andrea Willis penalty kick in the 30th minute of play, but USU’s Griffin deflected the kick.
“Ali stopped a penalty kick,” Cairns said. “Ali also stopped a direct kick that was on frame. I’m so proud of the girls. It’s disappointing to lose in the (88th) minute, but this is by far the best soccer we’ve played all year, and to play that well against the No. (23) team in the country was great to see.”
The game, as typical in Aggie rivalries, was a physical contest but had fewer fouls than in previous USU games at 9-3, in favor of the Aggies. The physicality of the game left some deep marks on the Cougars though.
Standout BYU goalkeeper Erika Woodbury fell on the ball, trying to prevent a USU goal, and gashed her face, Cairns said. Woodbury left the game with three minutes remaining in the first half and didn’t return until the 57th minute of play. While on the sidelines, Woodbury was patched up with 10 stitches, a BYU press release stated.
In the interim, BYU freshman goalkeeper Aleena Shelton stepped in, playing her first minutes of the season, allowing a prime opportunity for USU to score, Cairns said.
“When something like (an injury) happens, you are putting in a goalkeeper that is cold, hasn’t warmed up properly. We weren’t able to captialize on it, not that we didn’t try,” Cairns said.
With the win, the Cougars improve to 9-0-2 on the season and the Aggies fall to 4-7-0 with only one nonconference game remaining before Western Athletic Conference play begins.
“I’m so proud of the way the girls played,” Cairns said. “It showed that we’re coming together. We played hard and we played smart. I think the challenge now is going to be how do we recover from this and how do we mentally prepare to play against Utah? We’re going to have the same caliber of play to beat them. I’m starting to look ahead at what do we need to emphasize, what do we do well, what do we need to bring into the Utah game.”
The Aggies next take on a rival University of Utah, Saturday, Oct. 6, at 1 p.m. at home.