Aggies draw Michigan 2-2 in heart-pounding home opener

Despite a dominant first half, Utah State Soccer’s return to Chuck & Gloria Bell Soccer Field ended in a disappointing 2-2 draw against Michigan in its 2026 home opener. 

Utah State led the first half 2-0, outshooting the Wolverines 8-0 in the first period. The Wolverines answered with a goal in the 68th minute and a buzzer-beating shot in the final second of regulation to bring the result to a draw.  

Despite some missed saves, head coach Manny Martins had great things to say about goalkeeper Allee Grashoff.

“You know we’re all human, and it’s early in the season, so just like everybody else on the field, yes, there’s opportunities for everyone to get better, including Allee,” Martins said. “But she’s a great goalkeeper. She’s the one who’s done some great things for us and is going to continue to do great things.”  

The first goal was scored by junior forward Mia Mullenmiester in the 18th minute and assisted by junior defender Kaeda Wilson. The second goal was scored in the 31st minute by sophomore transfer from BYU Mia Lopez after coming off the bench. Lopez comes to Logan after a prolific BYU freshman campaign where she was named to the Big 12 All-Freshman Team after starting all 24 games for the Cougars and was their second-leading scorer with six goals.

The Aggies showed off the depth they have in their positions by also calling in forward Samantha Sellers off the bench, who made her sophomore debut after appearing in 21 matches for the Aggies a season ago.

“I mean, there was no questions; there was no change in body language or attitude. They were ready to go,” Martins said. “So much so that when they did go in, they both performed really well.”  

Lopez attributed much of the early success in the game to her team.

“Coming from the bench, the energy was amazing. Then stepping onto the field, the energy was even better. And then up until both goals, I think with the lead, we had such good energy,” Lopez said. “And then obviously still we kept that energy up and even getting scored on, and then even when they had their last goal, we were able to still maintain that energy. And I think that just reflects how strong of a team we are and how close we are, because no matter what the score was, we had great energy, and we were hyping each other up the whole time.” 

Even with a disappointing result after holding the lead for the majority of the match, the Aggies remain undefeated in home openers under Martins, which may be in part due to the presence of The Hurd. Despite the start of the fall semester being weeks away, the student section was full and could be heard across the pitch.   

After drawing the Wolverines on Sunday, the Aggies will return to Chuck & Gloria Bell Soccer Field on Thursday, August 20th to face off against Portland at 7:30 p.m.