Ags looking to develop faith in scoring
If scoring goals was as easy as saying a prayer, the USU soccer team would be more than saved, but building their faith in their ability is a work in progress.
USU Head Coach Heather Cairns said she feels her team is improving on both ends of the field but seems to lose faith if early shots don’t hit their mark immediately, creating a weakness in focus and vision on which opponents have capitalized.
“I think it’s another mental thing,” Cairns said. “We’ve got to be better at having faith that we’re going to score. I think what happens is we get so many chances early and we don’t put them away. We get flustered and then that manifests itself in giving away goals in the second half. We have to be stronger and just have faith – keep them off the board, give our attack a chance to put the ball in the back of the net. We have to just be strong with that, knowing that those goals will come. I think we’re doubting it a little bit, which is why we kind of get our heads down. But we’re scoring goals, so there’s no reason to doubt it. It’s just being a little bit stronger mentally as a team.”
The Aggies fire off more shots than their opponents in the first half but are inconsistent at finishing those shots. They are also effective at eliminating opponents’ opportunities to score in the opening half, allowing only five goals all season. But once the second half hits, something changes and the Aggie attack and defense break down, allowing opponents to score, often deciding the outcome of the game. The Aggies outshoot their opponents in the second half but have been outscored 15-8 this season. The disproportionate scoring in the halves is something Cairns said she is concerned with and said it comes down to competitiveness.
“It’s really about competing,” she said. “It’s having everybody be accountable, everybody having to defend, everybody having to attack, being able to play when you’re a goal up, being able to play when you’re a goal down.
“We have struggled at times at putting 90 minutes together. I think that’s really going to be the key, just weather the game, the ups and downs that are associated to the game. We really just need to weather, just put together 90 minutes and know that the game’s not over after 45. So I think the mental cues combined with our fitness will pull us through.”
Keeping a sharp mental focus will be something the Aggies will need this weekend heading on their final road trip of the season this weekend with a 5-9 overall record and a 1-1 record in conference play. The first stop will be against Nevada, last season’s tournament champion, on Friday at 8 p.m., after which the team will travel one state west to face Fresno State, Sunday at 3 p.m. The Bulldogs were the regular season champions last season.
“Nevada and Fresno, it’s a tough weekend because they were preseason ranked one and two and they’re last year’s regular season and tournament champions. So we know we’re getting great competition, and this is one of the toughest weekends that we face,” Cairns said. “We really have to go in with the idea that we’re going to get some points this weekend, whether it’s wins or ties. We need to steal some points from the home team. That’s got to be our mentality. So we have to take it pretty seriously. It takes a little bit more to win on the road than it does in general. We just really have to know that they’re two of the toughest opponents in conference and know that we’re going to have to bring our best game.”
Bringing the best game will include making sure players are healthy, “even if they’re a little banged up,” Cairns said. Senior forward Dana Peart, the leading scorer on the team, was injured early in the second half against Boise State and sat out the remainder of the game. She did not participate in practice on Tuesday, but Cairns said she did that to allow Peart a chance to rest and recover for the next game, and said she expects to play Peart this weekend. Sophomore forward Erin Salmon has played minimal minutes this season due to a torn meniscus in the knee that is taking time to heal. What time Salmon has played on the field has been valuable, as she has tallied one goal. Cairns said she expects Salmon to play this weekend as well.
USU will need all its offensive weapons against a Nevada team that matches up fairly even. Like the Aggies, the Wolf Pack doesn’t rely on one player to lead the attack, having plenty of scoring threats. Nevada’s leading scorer is Cristen Drummond, who, like Peart, has five goals and two assists on the season for 12 points. Also with 12 points is Karen Zmirak, who boasts four goals and four assists. Five other players have scored for Nevada this season.
Even with a full arsenal of scoring threats, the Wolf Pack come off a two-game losing streak to open Western Athletic Conference play, losing to Hawaii and San Jose State on the road. The Wolf Pack looks to benefit from home field advantage and turn things around.
“They’re one of the toughest teams at home,” Cairns said. “There’s a definite home field advantage in Reno. I think regardless of whether they come off losses or wins, they’re a tough team period, and we just have to take it as that. Certainly coming off two losses they’re going to have a little bit more fire in the belly.”
Fresno State is 1-1 in conference play after dropping a close match to Hawaii on Sunday. The Bulldogs have been good at home at 4-1. The Aggies will have to overcome that advantage and find away to minimize the impact of standout player Nicole Gutierrez, who has seven goals and two assists on the season.
“We feel like when there is that one player, that we draw special attention to her and make sure that she’s got a body on her anywhere on the field, but we don’t necessarily man-mark her and lose our shape.”
-seth.h@aggiemail.usu.edu