Soccer team falls to Fresno State in WAC semifinals
The Utah State women’s soccer team has got to be getting sick of Fresno State. After losing to the Bulldogs on Oct. 22, which snapped a six-game undefeated streak and gave USU its first conference loss of the season, the Aggies were beaten again by Fresno in the semi-finals of the WAC tournament. USU came into the game looking to avenge their past losses, but still couldn’t find a way to stop Fresno in the 1-0 loss.
The Aggies and Bulldogs are no strangers in WAC tournament play, with last week’s meeting the third in the last five years. USU has always had trouble with the Bulldogs, though, and with this most recent loss they fall to 0-3 in the WAC tournament against Fresno, and 2-6 overall in WAC tournament matches.
“We felt good coming into this tournament,” said head coach Heather Cairns. “Fresno was one of the teams that we had lost to, so we knew we were going to have to play differently and we felt like we had a good game plan in terms of how to do that.”
The Aggies game plan wasn’t quite enough, as about midway through the first half, Fresno got on the board with a goal from Lauren Linstrom. The goal, which was Linstrom’s first of the season, came off Krissy Looney’s corner kick, and put the Bulldogs up 1-0.
In the first half, junior Shantel Flanary and freshman Kendra Pemberton both had two shots on goal for Utah State, but it was Fresno State who was really on the attack, out-shooting the Aggies 8-6 and scoring the lone goal. Fresno also had four corner kicks while USU had none.
“We came out and just played OK,” Cairns said. “But OK doesn’t win you conference tournament games. We limited them in the attack, but they got us on a corner which was the way they got us before.”
The Aggies went into halftime trailing 1-0, but when they took the field again in the second half, they were a different team. USU got their first corner kick in the 51st minute and out-shot Fresno 7-3 in the second half. Pemperton and Senior Stefani Shiozaki, playing in her last game, did their best to pull the Aggies back with shots early in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to catch the Bulldogs.
“At halftime we made more adjustments and we came out with a lot more fire,” Cairns said. “We had some opportunities to tie it up, but unfortunately the damage was done by that point and the ball just didn’t bounce our way. We felt Fresno was the better team the first half and we were the better team the second half, but that’s not going to get you results.”
Fresno State is 6-2-2 all-time against Utah State. The Bulldogs are the only team in the WAC to have a winning record against the Aggies since joining the league. The Bulldogs were the last team to get into the tournament this year, but came in with plenty of momentum as they finished their season going 5-0-2 in their last seven games. This year also marks Fresno State’s fifth tournament championship appearance in the last six years.
“They’re a solid team,” Cairns said. “They didn’t do anything differently (from the first game), but what they do they do well and we just were not able to execute quick enough and figure them out quick enough.”
Friday’s game also marked the last game for three Aggie seniors; Shiozaki, Lauren Hansen, who recently became the all-time goal and points leader in USU history and Heather Pond. These three players had successful Utah State careers, winning 42 matches, second only to the 43 wins of the 2009 class. They are also the first class in Utah State history to have a winning record all four seasons.
“These three seniors have meant a lot to us and moved the program forward,” Cairns said. Their impact now turns into a legacy with all that they have accomplished.”
– mark.israelsen@aggiemail.usu.edu