Men’s soccer has successful weekend
The Utah State men’s soccer team held tight to an undefeated winning streak, 8-0-1, after winning both games this weekend.
Friday, the Aggies played a tough defense against Salt Lake Community College at home and came out victorious, 4-3.
Utah State started out strong in the first half, scoring in the 10th minute. Outside midfielder James Calvimonte scored the first goal with a hard-driven shot to the corner of the goal.
“In the game against SLCC, we started meshing together as a team, and we all started to realize our full potential,” Calvimonte said. “Our confidence is growing, and we’re only going to get better from here on out. I’ve never seen a USU men’s soccer team as good as we are now.”
Aggie forward Kevin Young came in at the 15th minute and scored from a near impossible angle, fifteen yards out while standing almost over the goal line, he bent it in with his left foot.
SLCC then hit a shot to the upper right corner of the goal, which came against the flow of play.
At the 43rd minute, after a 60-yard driven pass from left back Tyson Kelley, Calvimonte made a header into the goal.
USU took a 3-1 lead into halftime.
“Our quick goals in the first half put us in a great position for the rest of the game,” said Aggie outside midfielder Emilio Zamudio. “As far as the rest of the season goes, I think if we can keep working hard and overcome the challenge of injuries, we can make this year’s regional tournament one to remember.”
Zamudio slotted a shot into the corner from fifteen yards out, on a header from across the corner of the 18 in the 67th minute, after an assist from Kendon Knowles.
In the last 20 minutes of the game, SLCC caught up to make another two goals of the game. The Bruins found the back of the net in the 70th minute, and then again in the 89th minute off a penalty kick.
“We are excited about staying undefeated — improving our record to 6 wins and one tie,” said USU team captain Trey Leonard. “We felt like we moved the ball well, played our game and forced SLCC to chase the game. We benefited from some great individual performances by James Calvimonte and Vic Carlson in the midfield.”
The Aggies played again Saturday on Chuck and Gloria Bell field against BYU-Idaho. It was a slow start for Utah State, scoring just one goal in the first half before coming back to score six more goals in the second half to take a 7-0 victory.
The Aggies broke out of their rough start with a goal in the 25th minute. Carlson took a left-footed shot from outside the 18-yard box, which curled right just inside of the goal.
“The game was very exciting and dynamic,” Carlson said. “It was a team effort to win this game.”
USU fullback Tyson Kelley got a through ball up the middle and was able to score on a 1-v-1 situation.
“After a good halftime motivational speech by our coach, we came out in the second half and played like a different team,” Leonard said. “We stepped harder to close down BYU-I attackers, and finished our opportunities on goal when we were presented with them.”
Five minutes later, inside midfielder Jordan Butterfield scored on a penalty kick to give USU a 3-0 advantage.
“We came out really slow against BYU-I and were fortunate to be up 1-0 by the break,” Butterfield said. “During halftime, coach Morgan really got us fired up to play a lot sharper in the second half.”
The scoring onslaught continued for the Aggies when inside midfielder Billy Harlow ended a string of several solid passes with a hard strike to the right corner of the net in the 60th minute.
Outside midfielder Jared Pace added to the goal total for USU in the 73rd minute, and forward Hayden Monsen scored in the 80th minute off a pass from Harlow.
Kevin Young scored the final goal of the game off a through ball from James Moughamian.
– macael.ivie@aggiemail.usu.edu