Soccer falls to BSU 1-0
A corner kick by Boise State’s Molly McDonald in the 83rd minute of Friday’s season opener led to a Lisa Balsama header, a BSU goal and a 1-0 Utah State loss.
“They scored on a corner kick that we lost in the sun,” Aggie head coach Heather Cairns said. “It was the reason we lost, but not the reason we didn’t win.”
Despite out-shooting the Broncos 5-3 in the opening half, the Ags were unable to find the back of the net all afternoon. BSU goalkeeper Kim Parker recorded six saves on the day.
“We need to work on completing the pass,” Cairns said. “We had some decent runs and a lot of crosses – a lot of crosses. We need to work on finishing those.”
Coming off what Cairns called a good preseason game – a 1-0 loss to Idaho State – the Ags lost their first ever match to BSU, dropping to 0-1 on the year and 4-1 against their future Western Athletic Conference opponent.
In the net for Utah State, senior Megan Mills, who recorded a school-record 10 shutouts last season, allowed one goal and notched four saves.
“Megan came up with some big saves,” Cairns said. “She lost the ball in the sun, but she saved us a lot before that.”
After graduating the two leading scorers from last year’s record-setting 10-win team, Cairns said she is looking for the group of new freshman and junior college transfers to step up their play.
Cairns said she was particularly impressed, however, with the play of freshman and Boise, Idaho, native Katie Keller.
“Katie was awesome,” Cairns said. “She played 90 minutes and had some nice contributions.”
The Ags now turn their focus to an in-state matchup with Weber State Monday in Logan.
“Weber is always a tough battle,” Cairns said. “They have a lot of Utah kids. We have a lot of Utah kids. It’s always back and forth.”
Cairns said it will be nice to be back at home after two road games, but said her team can’t rely solely on home field advantage.
“Traditionally we’ve done very well in Logan,” Cairns said. “But who cares about tradition? We have to prove something here and now. Right now we’re a 0-1 team.”
The team will look to fix some of the little things, Cairns said, in an effort to escape its current offensive drought.
“It’s just a matter of getting over the hump,” Cairns said. “Once we score that first goal, they’ll start rolling in.”
-acf@cc.usu.edu