Soccer picks up home win over South Dakota State
Utah State Women’s Soccer (2-3-0) got back in the win column on Friday night, beating South Dakota State (4-1-0) 2-1 at the Chuck and Gloria Bell Field.
For the Aggies who have played a tough non-conference schedule to this point, it was an important win. They opened the season with a 5-1 victory over Weber State but had since dropped three straight contests to #23 St Louis, Utah and Texas Tech.
The Jackrabbits came into the contest unblemished with a perfect 4-0-0 record, the most recent of which was a win over Iowa State. Last year’s SDSU squad posted a 13-1-5 record and went undefeated in summit conference play. This year they returned many of their key pieces, including senior goalkeeper Jocelynn Tanner. Tanner’s .897 save percentage ranked her second in the nation a year ago.
The Aggies started out aggressive, possessing the ball for long stretches and connecting on passes. They saw opportunities early, registering four shots in the first six minutes. One close miss came on a third-minute corner following a blocked shot by sophomore Tess Werts.
In the eighth minute, junior forward Bizzy Arevalo put the Aggies on the board. Freshman midfielder Summer Diamond was able to beat her defender and field an endline pass from Senior forward Alysia Butters. She made a move to the middle before passing across to Arevalo, who tapped it into the bottom left corner of the net with her right foot giving the Aggies the early lead.
For the Aggies, it had been 212 minutes of game time since their last goal. The prior goal had come from Freshman Abby Schofield in the 66th minute of the game.
“It was so nice,” said Arevalo. “I think we have all been a little sad about our last three games but we really wanted to work hard and win on our home field again, so it was great to be able to do that.”
The Aggies would strike again in the 27th minute when Arevalo found graduate Forward Nicole Hadlock-Hardy over the middle. Hadlock-Hardy swiftly punched the ball into the bottom corner of the net, giving the Aggies a 2-0 lead.
To cap off the high-scoring first half, South Dakota State freshman Kayla Anderson was able to sneak one past Aggie keeper Diera Walton in the 43rd minute to bring the Jackrabbits back within one.
The Jackrabbits made it difficult for Utah State in the second half. After conceding 10 shots in the first, they only allowed the Aggies four shots in the second half. Despite this, the Aggies were still able to generate chances.
Their best opportunity came in the 62nd minute when Freshman Kate Christian was tripped up inside the penalty box. The Aggies would award the ensuing Penalty Kick to Senior Kelsey Kaufusi. Kaufusi fired a line drive to the left side of the goal that was blocked by keeper Jocelynn Tanner.
Despite four second-half shots by the Jackrabbits, Utah State would hold on to win 2-1.
The Aggies will host South Dakota on Sunday as they wrap up a two-game homestand against a pair of teams from the Mount Rushmore State. That game will kick off at 1 p.m. back at the Chuck and Gloria Bell field.