Men’s soccer ties Weber State, smashes LDS Business College
A successful weekend came at a cost for the Aggie men’s soccer team after tying Weber State’s B-squad 1-1 on Friday, as the Aggies lost two starters to injury. Despite the loss of Brian Hadfield and Dave Firmage, however, USU was able to bounce back Saturday, destroying LDS Business College 7-1.
According to Aggie midfielder Jordan Butterfield, losing Hadfield and Firmage will likely affect USU in the coming weeks, and the undefeated team will be looking for replacements.
“We are just going to look for someone to fill in that spot,” Butterfield said. “They’re almost irreplaceable, but we’ll try and find someone.”
In Friday’s struggle, neither team was able to manage a score until the 76th minute, when the Wildcats got on the board following a corner kick. However, the Aggie scored only minutes later off a corner kick, evening the game at one.
Saturday’s action proved more decisive for USU. After struggling with a nasty turf field on Friday, the Aggies tallied six goals in the second half against LDS Business College to break the game open after a slow start.
“We started the game really slow,” Butterfield said. “We weren’t knocking the ball around really well. But we calmed down, were more focused, and just knocked the ball around like we should.”
Butterfield scored early off a penalty kick to put the Aggies up 1-0, and later scored the game’s fifth goal as part of USU’s second-half rout.
The scoring spree really began in the 57th minute, when USU’s Tony Rubino placed a curving shot just inside the post on a penalty kick.
“One of our guys got chopped down, so I called dibs on (the penalty kick), stepped up, and put it in the corner,” Rubino said.
Utah State also tallied goals in the 63rd, 65th, 76th and 83rd minutes during the second half.
Despite the victory, the USU men’s team remains concerned about the losses of two of their top players. According to Rubino, the team will have to come together to overcome the injuries if they are to accomplish their goal of getting to nationals.
“It will be tough, but some of the young guys will need to step up, and some older guys will need to play even better,” said Rubino. “We’ll see the quality of our team.”
– rhett.wilkinson@aggiemail.usu.edu