USU women’s soccer seals homecoming weekend
Utah State Women’s soccer concluded homecoming weekend with a pair of wins. They took on San Jose State Friday beating them 1-0 and Fresno State Sunday for an overtime win of 2-1. This makes the Aggies 8-4-2 for the season and 4-1-1 in the Mountain West Conference. USU is currently sitting in 3rd in conference standings.
Friday’s game was different play for Utah State. San Jose State started out controlling most of the ball and the field, making it hard for the Aggies to adjust. Once USU figured out their play, it was a battle from there on.
The only goal of the match came when freshman Wesley Hamblin crossed a ball to the center of the box where her sister, senior midfield Maris Hamblin was there to nail it in the back of the net. This was Maris Hamblin’s first goal of the season and third assist for her sister Wesley. The end of the first half came with the Aggies leading 1-0.
USU held tight to their lead in the second half, ending the match with a 1-0 win. The game was unusually physical with 28 fouls combined from both teams. The spartans totalled with 17 fouls and the Aggies with 11. Utah State outshot the San Jose State with 11 shots and two on goal. While SJSU had nine shots, three of them on goal.
“We knew San Jose state was going to be hard-working and that they would battle. They have a great goalkeeper and a great energy about them,” said USU head coach Heather Cairns. “We knew they would make the match tough on us and they certainly did that.”
Coach Cairns also expressed her excitement with the goal between the Hamblin sisters
“I thought the finish was fantastic,” Cairns said. “Those two combining ended up being a sophisticated way to break San Jose State down. Wesley and Maris have this weird chemistry. In practice, it’s just the Hamblin show when we have them on the same team. They can find each other in places that normal teammates can’t. That’s a fun thing to have on the field.”
Sunday’s game ended homecoming with a winning streak.
Utah State took on Fresno State at the Chuck and Gloria Bell field for an intense match for both teams.
It was a no-goal score for the first half, as both teams battled to get on the board. The Aggies had an opportunity to score on a one-on-one chance but the ball went just wide of the goal. It was still 0-0 at the half with USU having eight shots and Fresno State with three.
The second half started and it was a back-and-forth attempt to score. Fresno state took an opportunity in the 65th minute to score the first goal of the game from a corner and into the near post.
It was a 1-0 game until almost the end of the game. The Aggies opportunity to tie the game came when sophomore Jessica Brooksby got fouled just outside the 18 yard box. She stepped up to the take the free kick that sailed right over the keeper to tie the game up in the 84th minute.
Regulation ended with a 1-1 tie that led into overtime. Women’s college soccer overtime consist of two 10 minute halves with a golden goal rule. This means that which ever team scores first wins the game.
Both the Aggies and the Bulldogs continued to battle for a goal to end the game. The opportunity for Utah State came in the 98th minute, when Brooksby angled a corner kick to the penalty box for contact. It was a chance for anyone but it was a defender from Fresno State that hit the ball into the net for an own goal to end the match.
Utah State ended the game with 19 shots and two goals and Fresno State with six shots and one goal.
“We anticipated Fresno State to be a really tough match,” Cairns said. “They’re a big rival for us. We came out and gave up that goal in the second half and that was tough. I was really happy with how we responded mentally. This was the first time we were able to come from behind and win this season. I’m really proud of our team and our mentality to grind out and keep fighting for this win today. We weren’t going to settle for a tie.”
Cairns was also pleased to end homecoming weekend with a win after the volleyball, football, men’s soccer and hockey teams each got a win.
“That is such a cool thing,” Cairns said. We were happy to do our part to make that happen. We’re at the tail end of Homecoming, but the support today was great. The atmosphere at Utah State is outstanding. To see the excitement around campus this weekend was really special.”
After a home stretch of four games USU will be on the road this weekend. They will face the leader of the Mountain West Conference, San Diego State on Friday, Oct. 17 at 8 p.m. The team will then conclude its road games facing New Mexico on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m.