Aggies sweep homestand
The Aggies’ final home game, also known as Senior Day, went off without a hitch for the Utah State soccer team.
Aggie senior Liz Masson scored her first career goal in her last home game to help Utah State win 2-0 over Idaho.
Masson, who had two assists but no goals entering the day, put in the second goal of the game for the Aggies in the 73rd minute. Off a corner kick, the ball bounced to the top of the box where Masson poked the ball past the goalie to give the Ags their final margin and set off cheers and tears from her bench.
“I couldn’t have asked for more,” Masson said. “It was probably the best thing that could’ve happened for me.”
Utah State Head Coach Heather Cairns said it was a special moment, which put Charlsie Harris and Sierra Smith in tears while they were on the bench.
The Ags struck first in the 35th minute when Abby Hunt scored off a corner kick when she fired the defender’s attempted clear into the net for her second goal of the weekend.
The first half was pretty even when it came to possession as the Ags couldn’t win balls in the air to keep control of the ball, but adjustments in the second half allowed Utah State to control the game better.
“We wanted to keep the ball on the ground and get our outside mids involved,” Cairns said. “That’s how we would get in and break them.”
The Aggie midfielders looked to be a step faster than the Idaho defenders for the whole game – a major reason why the Ags outshot the Vandals 28-6.
Utah State’s subs took 13 of those 28 shots. Hunt, who scored a goal, took four shots one on goal and Candice Clark took four shots and led the team with two shots on goal for the game.
In the 16th minute, Charity Weston was given a yellow card after shoving a Vandal player. Weston was taken out so she wouldn’t have to draw another card, which would disqualify her for play in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament opener this week.
In Friday afternoon’s game against Boise State, the Ags won 4-0 thanks to goals from Sierra Smith, Weston, Lindsay Lauro and Hunt. Lauro, Masson and KD Keller all had assists for the Aggies as well.
After the Ags played tough the first 10 minutes, the Broncos came back with a couple scoring chances, getting their lone shot on goal before the Aggie defense allowed two more shots the rest of the way.
The first Aggie goal came in the 25th minute on a Smith shot after a Lauro cross. In the second half, the Ags scored two quick goals in the 47th and 56th minutes by Lauro and Weston. Forty-five seconds before the end of the game, Hunt scored on a cross from Keller to cement the 4-0 victory.
Having qualified for the WAC tournament this coming weekend helped the Ags play relaxed enough to dominate.
“It took a lot of pressure off,” Lauro said. “We wanted to win, but we were ready to relax.”
The early goals help put the Ags at ease throughout the game since once the first goal was scored, the defense and offense played well allowing two shots in the second half, none of them on goal.
-krn@cc.usu.edu
Utah State’s Sierra Smiht kicks the ball toward the goal as the Boise State goalkeeper defends the net during their game Friday. USU won 4-0.