Soccer returns from California road trip
After an in-state start to the season, the Utah State University men’ s soccer club traveled to California last weekend for a three game road trip.
Last Thursday, after a full day of travel on Wednesday, the Aggies met up with Pepperdine University. USU defeated Pepperdine 2-1, but the Aggies could have done much better in the game, forward Neal Obray said.
Obray said the team missed some wide-open shots and weren’t playing at the level they could have been. “We had at least four shots go off the post.”
“The drive really affected play on Thursday,” he said.
Friday, USU was scheduled to play California State University-San Marcos but the game was forfeited because San Marcos’s referees never showed.
Obray said both teams arrived, warmed up and went through the pre-game routine, but then the game was called.
“It was disappointing we didn’t play,” goalkeeper Paul Dowdy said.
USU had a three-hour drive back to their hotel, so the Aggies decided to go back and relax for the rest of the day, Obray said.
Utah State didn’t play on Saturday, but Sunday matched up against Long Beach State University. USU dropped the game 1-0 after Long Beach scored in the final minutes.
“We had a couple of good chances,” Obray said.
Obray said fatigue and penalties were both a factor in Sunday’s game.
Utah State also lost a player in the Long Beach game due to midfielder Craig Moore receiving two yellow cards. Dowdy said Long Beach was playing a physical game and with 20 minutes left in the second half, Moore picked up his first yellow card for using foul language.
Shortly after, Moore was fouled by Long Beach and USU was awarded a free kick, Dowdy said. Moore wanted to get something started quickly, but a Long Beach player was holding the ball. Moore went over and knocked the ball free but the Long Beach player shoved Moore. Dowdy said upon witnessing the altercation, the referee gave both players a yellow card.
Having picked up his second yellow card, Moore had to leave the game. This forced USU to play a man down the remainder of the game.
Having the one-man advantage over USU, Long Beach was eventually able to score.
“[The penalty] really hurt,” Obray said.
“Playing shorthanded is something we have to
remedy,” Dowdy said. “We need to stop getting cards for stupid things.”
Though USU went 1-1 on the trip, the team was
hoping for better.
“We played decent, but not as good as we were hoping,” Obray said. “We were hoping for a sweep.”
Despite the forfeited game and the loss, the trip was good for the team Obray said.
“I think the team came together. Everyone got along great. We are molding into a great team,” Obray said.