Women’s soccer ends eight-game winless streak against Colorado College
After recording 17 shots and no goals in Friday’s 1-0 loss to Air Force Academy, the Utah State University women’s soccer team looked to get the bad taste out of its mouth.
Sunday’s match against Colorado College proved to be exactly what the Aggies needed. The team exploded to go 3-0 over the Tigers, scoring the same amount of goals in 90 minutes as they had in the past seven matches combined.
“You just gotta have faith — and once one [goal] falls they all fall,” head coach Heather Cairns said.
According to Cairns, the lack of goals by the team previously resulted in a hit to her players’ momentum and confidence.
After Air Force scored early in Friday’s match, the team battled back by outshooting their opponents and having over twice as many corner kicks, but the Aggies still came up short.
“You just got to score the first goal of the match at some point,” Cairns said. “That gives you a lot more spring in your step and you’re not chasing the game.”
Ending the drought
On Sunday, the Aggies were able to come out and get their first goal, lifting the lid on their scoring drought.
The goal came in the 17th minute off the foot of junior defender Imelda Williams. Williams got the ball off a pass from junior midfielder Amber Marshall and knocked it into the lower right corner of the net.
Williams’ goal came after a frustrating Friday where she missed several opportunities to score by mere inches. This included a shot on goal in the 58th minute, which was tipped out by the goalkeeper’s fingertips.
“The reason why I keep going is because I just want to keep playing harder for my teammates,” she said. “Instead of just getting down, thinking… I’m going to get the next one.”
Junior midfielder Kami Warner netted the second goal of Sunday’s match just 18 seconds into the second half. The midfielder shot the ball from outside the arc of the penalty box and into the top of the net. Warner’s goal set a new record for the fastest second half goal in Utah State history.
By continuing to feed off that momentum, senior forward Alecia Robinson was able to record the final goal of the match in the 50th minute of play. Robinson worked her way through the Tiger’s converging defense and shot the ball past a diving goalkeeper and into the lower left corner of the net.
In total, Utah State had 12 shots with six on frame. Colorado College ended the match with nine shots. All six of the Tiger’s shots on goal were saved by freshman goalkeeper Diera Walton. The match was Walton’s fifth clean sheet of the season.
The victory also ended the eight-match winless streak suffered by the team and marks its second conference win of the season.
Utah State returns to Chuck and Gloria Bell Field on Friday, to take on Boise State in the Aggies’ final match of the 2019 season. Game time is scheduled for 3 PM.