Aggie soccer hit with double blow against Idaho State
The women’s soccer team lost their home opener against Idaho State 0-1.
Utah State’s 1-0 loss Sunday to Idaho State was a double whammy. Not only did the Aggies drop the game, but they also lost junior Lacy Gustaveson.
Gustaveson, a Hyrum native and junior college transfer from Dixie State, injured her arm during the game. The severity of the injury and if she will miss any games is unknown.
The loss evens USU’s record for the season to 2-2-0.
The sunny Sunday afternoon match was a defensive battle. Neither team was able to do much offensively as the defenses focused in on key players.
The USU defensive breakdown that cost them the game came midway through the second half.
Junior ISU forward Stacey Allen broke away from the defense and snuck the ball past junior goalie Megan Mills. Despite the loss, Head Coach Heather Cairns had a great deal of praise for her players.
“They gave every thing they had,” she said. “They fought until the end. They played with heart and energy.”
Senior Ally Clegg played well competing in the entire length of the match, but she gave credit to the deserving defense.
“Our defense played hard and tough,” Clegg said.
Cairns also had praise for ISU.
“They’re a good team,” she said. “I thought we played with them.”
Though she did recognize the positives in their play, she knew exactly what kept the team from winning.
“It all comes down to execution,” Cairns said.
Execution plagued the offensive attack losing many scoring chances because of simple mental errors. Despite 11 ISU fouls and three corner kicks, USU didn’t capitalize on set play scoring opportunities.
The first half of the game was a stalemate with the ball spending most of its time in the midfield.
To start the second half, the USU offense came out strong. They flirted with scoring for quite some time controlling possession of the ball.
There was a no call by the referee on a possibly illegal tackle near the goal box. If there had been a call, it could have resulted in a USU goal.
Minutes later, ISU scored the only goal of the game on a breakaway play.
Former Aggie Heather Arnell started for the Bengals, but did not record any statistics.
Idaho State won the Big Sky Conference last season and is favored to win the title again. Their win over USU moves them to 3-0 on the year.
Utah State will host Nevada (1-0) at home Thursday at 5 p.m.
-chrisbarn@cc.usu.edu