Looking for more home cooking: Aggies continue three-game homestand
Coming off a big win against UTEP Sunday, the USU women’s soccer team looks to do something they have yet to accomplish this season: win two games in a row.
Following both of the Aggies’ previous wins at home, they went on the road and lost – once to Oregon and most recently to Utah. Breaking that pattern is a top priority for the Aggies, said USU head coach Heather Cairns.
Her team has an advantage they didn’t in the previous matches: they play on their home field.
Home field has been nice to USU, where the Aggies are currently undefeated. As the middle game of a three-game homestand, Utah State looks to start its first win streak Thursday at 1 p.m. when they take on University of Texas at San Antonio.
Even though the Aggies will have their hands full with UTSA, which comes from the talented soccer state of Texas, Cairns said the bigger challenge for her team is overcoming their own struggles with consistency.
“What we have to worry about now is just replicating what we’re doing,” Cairns said. “We’ve had some trouble with that. While I don’t want to discount our opponent, I think it’s our opponent we’re battling, but it’s also ourselves.”
Each position on the team has struggled at one point in the season and the team has fought to find a consistent rhythm in their play, but Cairns said she thinks they are starting to pull together.
“It’s coming,” Cairns said. “It’s there in glimpses. The question that remains is can we do it consistently? We can’t do it with three forwards working and four midfielders loafing. We have to do it with 11 people on the field.”
Cairns also said bench production was critical, which was apparent in the UTEP game, where forwards Erin Salmon and Lauren Hansen came off the bench to score the two goals for the Aggies. Hansen leads the team in scoring and points with three goals and one assist, and Salmon has two goals.
While the Aggies battle for consistency, UTSA will face a new challenge when they come to Bell Field, as it will mark their first game of the season against a non-Texas school. The Roadrunners play only three non-Texas teams this season in Utah State, Southern Utah and Louisiana-based McNeese State.
With a 3-4-0 record, the Roadrunners have had their fair share of difficult preseason matches, falling 0-3 to No. 8 Texas, and recently dropping a 0-3 match against Baylor.
UTSA is led in scoring by Veronica Najera, who has two goals and two assists. Three other UTSA players have two goals apiece and nine players have at least one assist.
The Roadrunners also have plenty of experience in the net with three goalies who have all seen significant time in goal.
“They’ve done well in their conference and they’re going to be a strong team,” Cairns said of UTSA. “It’s going to be an evenly matched team.”
–seth.h@aggiemail.usu.edu
Far left, USU freshman forward Shantel Flanary protects the ball against a UTEP defender. (Tyler Larson)