Busy weekend for USU men’s soccer; Aggies go 1-0-1 against SUU and Boise State
This weekend showcased some tight competition, as the Utah State men’s club soccer team took on Southern Utah on Friday evening and Boise State Saturday night.
Friday night started out as if SUU was going to run away with the game, as their first goal came at the 2:30 mark. However, USU quickly bounced back as Jake Haddock netted an athletic goal no more than seven minutes after the first score.
“I was really upset about how we started off bad, but then scoring that gave us the momentum we needed,” Haddock said. “Being the one who scored that, I felt really good.”
Annika Johnson In the first half, the Aggies managed to keep the ball away from their side of the field nearly the entire time and got shots off repeatedly. While the efficiency was not great, they managed to pad their halftime lead with a score coming at 38:50 by Connan Wallace. The goal came shortly after a stoppage due to an Aggie fan sharing some words with an SUU player from the stands. Home field seemed to play an advantage, as it was only two short minutes after this altercation that the goal was scored.
Coming out of the half, SUU connected on another goal by way of a penalty kick in the opening five minutes. The PK was a result of a red card given to the Aggies’ Eric Christensen, a call that fell on the borderline of being a common penalty.
“It’s always a possibility when you have one defender and one forward running at the ball together. Personally I felt like it was a very ticky-tack red card, especially when our legs just got tangled up and there was no malicious intent,” Christensen said. “She made the choice and honestly, the team played great through it.”
That they did. Aye Moe of the Aggies took the call personally as he gave the Aggies the lead back in the 65th minute with an upper-right laser.
Heading into stoppage time, SUU made a late push on the Aggies and was able to come away with the equalizer no more than a minute before the game was called.
Annika Johnson A game in which the box score reflected what could have been a blowout ended in a stalemate. USU outshot SUU by a count of 35-9, also holding a plus-nine shots-on-goal tally. There were also two yellow cards awarded to the Aggies, and three to SUU.
The following evening, the Aggies hosted the Boise State Broncos, looking to bounce back from the previous outing.
All of the action from this one came in a 12-minute span in the first half, started by USU’s Jayden Bybee. He got on to the scoreboard in the 25th minute, sneaking one just past the outstretched fingertips of the opposing goalie. Just seven short minutes later, the Aggies strengthened their lead, as Bybee scored his second goal of the game. Boise State would close the gap by one goal heading into the intermission.
During the first half, USU goalie Tevan Tippetts suffered a leg injury, yet stayed in the game. However, coming out of halftime he was replaced by Gabriel Guerrero.
“I went out to slide and my knee actually got caught in the turf and twisted underneath me,” Tippets said of the injury.
Guerrero stepped in and was able to keep the Broncos off the board in the second half, after playing the night before.
“I got a lot of support from my teammates, I just kept thinking about the next game,” said Guerrero of his bounce-back performance.
A second half that proved mostly uneventful was highlighted by a pair of impressive defensive stops by USU’s Romney Harker.
“You just have to be really critical on when to step towards the ball and when to run back,” Harker said.
Had it have not been for these stops USU easily could have seen another draw.