Soccer breaks out of funk, beats NMSU and LTU
Battling against wind and cold, the Utah State soccer team kicked off Western Athletic Conference home play in a big way Friday. The Aggies tallied a goal in each half to lift themselves over New Mexico State by a final score of 2-nil.
With the win the Aggies broke a five-game slide. They struggled on their recent road trip but returned home to pick up a “W.” Utah State is undefeated at Chuck and Gloria Bell Field thus far.
“It’s huge, it’s especially nice to be home and playing in front of our family and friends,” said Aggie forward Shantel Flanary.
Despite a few struggles with the weather for both teams, the Aggies came out on top with goals off the feet of Flanery and fellow forward Kendra Pemberton.
The Aggies were also able to battle through the wet field conditions.
“It definitely affects the grass,” said Aggie defender Summer Tillotson. “The ball skips a lot more, it’s really, really fast. You definitely have to get your whole body behind it. There’s a lot of mistouches.”
USU made adjustments to its play and kept pressure on New Mexico State keeper Erin Wosick throughout much of the first half. The Utah State opportunities were plentiful, but the Aggies struggled to capitalize early.
“Early on we had quite a few crosses that we thought ‘Oh, they’re going in,'” said USU head coach Heather Cairns. “Sometimes when that happens your team gets a little frustrated, but I thought we weathered that really well; we stayed optimistic.”
Perhaps no one weathered that frustration quite as well as Pemberton.
The Aggie freshman found an opening in the 37th minute when fellow freshman Jade Tarver got her the ball on the left side. Pemberton was virtually undefended as she booted the ball past Wosick.
“Kendra’s a very special player for us,” Cairns said.
Shantel Flanary got the cushion goal for the Aggies in the second half off a beautifully executed combination, with assists from Mari Miyashiro and Jennifer Flynn.
“Coming into this game both New Mexico State and us had lost our WAC openers, so we thought that it was important to emphasize this game,” Cairns said. “When you are in the WAC travel is really hard, so you have to make sure you take care of the games that you have at home and then try to steal some on the road.”
Utah State 3, Louisiana Tech 1
Aggie forward Pemberton added two goals and one assist, and Miyashiro tacked on a third in Utah State’s 3-1 victory over Louisiana Tech Sunday.
With considerably better weather Utah State managed to remain undefeated at home. The Aggies move to 2-1 in WAC play with the win.
The Aggies held the Bulldogs to just nine shots in the game, and Utah State found its stride early, connecting passes exceptionally well in the first half.
“I think because of our last game, we gained some confidence,” Pemberton said. “After struggling for five games and not doing our best, we pulled it together and got our confidence back.”
Miyashiro found the back of the net for USU just six minutes into the game. The sophomore was set up by Pemberton from the corner, who passed the ball to Miyashiro in the middle. Miyashiro saw an opportunity and placed the ball past the outstretched hand of Bulldog goalkeeper Caitlyn Updyke.
“We thought we came out and really started the game strongly,” Cairns said.
The Aggies’ highly successful passing continued, which opened up big opportunities for Utah State. The Aggies had 10 shots on the period, including nice boots from Flanary and Pemberton.
Pemberton added a goal when she caught a Louisiana Tech defensive mistake and scored from six yards out.
The Aggies opened the second half with a 2-0 lead and quickly added to it. Pemberton tallied her second goal of the game off of yet another beautiful Utah State pass. Flanary found Pemberton in the middle for her third goal of the weekend.
Louisiana Tech cut the lead to two with a late goal, when chippy play resulted in a Utah State penalty. Scotti Culton scored on USU goalkeeper Ashlyn Mulford to cut the Aggie advantage to 3-1.
The Aggies head back on the road to take on the University of Nevada-Reno Oct. 16.
– meredith.kinney@aggiemail.usu.edu