Soccer gears up for weekend series
After a 2-0 start in conference play, the Utah State women’s soccer team is set to host Nevada today at 3p.m. and Houston Baptist on Sunday at 1 p.m.
The Wolf Pack are 6-5-2 right now, coming off a 1-3 loss in Ruston, La., a team that the Aggies beat 1-0 last weekend.
USU head coach Heather Cairns said that the team from Reno is strong all-around.
“(Nevada plays) an attacking style,” Cairns said. “They’ve got some speedy front runners that will cause our backs trouble.”
Wolf Pack senior Erin Smith is among team leaders in goals scored for Nevada. Smith scored her fourth goal of the season in the final minutes of the second overtime against New Mexico State to give Nevada the victory Oct. 1.
The weekend home stand will give opportunity to avid Aggie fans who want to help the Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field become what the Spectrum is to the USU basketball team. Coach Cairns said crowds play a big factor in how a soccer team plays.
“Home field advantage is definitely an important element,” Cairns said. She said hecklers can be very important in a good home crowd.
This is the second time that USU has started off 2-0-0 in WAC play, the first time coming in 2008 when the team began 7-0-0. Currently, Utah State is on the top of the table in WAC play, but Cairns said that she is very hesitant to comment on how high the team will finish at the end of the season.
“Our goal is the conference tournament; two wins doesn’t get you in,” Cairns said. “We really have to take one game at a time.”
According to Cairns, the Nevada midfielders will often cross the ball from the sides in to their midfielders. Look for Junior Keeper Molli Merrill to sniff out those chances and help lead the Aggie defense. The 2009 WAC All-Tournament Team member from Bountiful has an opportunity to earn her fifth shutout of the season in the upcoming match.
Look for both teams to be very physical and aggressive. Nevada is the only team to have beaten the Aggies in a conference opener, which they did last season in Reno by a score of 1-0. Utah State is 6-3-0 all-time against Nevada, with the last game between the two sides ending in a 4-3 win for the Aggies.
“We will have to possess the ball,” Cairns said. “We will have to finish opportunities; we might not get many.”
In the match on Sunday, the Huskies of Houston Baptist will be looking to take advantage of the rematch of the 5-1 loss to Utah State last year at Sorrels Field. Houston Baptist is currently 3-8-1, coming off of a heartbreaking 5-2 loss at the hands of TCU, but coach Cairns won’t be taking the game lightly.
“(Houston Baptist) has a good counter-attack,” Cairns said. “They have lost tight games.”
Aggie notables:
Senior Lauren Hanson scored her 30th career goal in the match against Cal Poly. The 21-year-old striker out of Camano Island, Wash. is now in third for all-time Aggie goals scored. Brigid Turner scored 32 from 1999-2002, and Jayme Gordy who played from 1997-2000 is the all-time leader with 35.
Junior forward Shantel Flanary has been named to topdrawersoccer.com’s top 100 list of the best college soccer players in the country. The 5’3″ star out of Lone Peak High School adds this to a slew of other awards she has earned, including WAC Freshman of the year and Second-Team All-WAC in 2008, First-Team All-WAC, WAC All-Tournament Team, Academic All-WAC, and WAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2009, and WAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year in the current season.
Flanary has four goals and three assists so far this season, putting her second on the team in points scored with 11. She scored goals in both of the wins against in-state teams Weber State and Utah Valley.
Coach Cairns is extending her record number of wins in this, her eighth season. Cairns became the winningest soccer coach in school history in 2006 and currently has 71 wins and a .513 winning percentage. In WAC conference play, Cairns has a record of 28-6-4, which is the highest winning percentage (.789) out of all nine other coaches in the league.
Junior Goalkeeper Molli Merrill and Junior Forward Shantel Flanary have been named WAC offensive or defensive players of the week twice each this season. Flanary earned the offensive honor during the week of Aug. 23 and Sep. 13. Merrill was named to the defensive honor the weeks of Aug. 30 and this last week on Oct. 4.
-tavin.stucki@aggiemail.usu.edu