Taking on the big girls
Coming off a four-game losing streak on the road, the women’s soccer squad returns home to take on ranked Brigham Young University.
Since the previous home game against Weber State on Sept. 29, the Aggies have played two top-ranked teams in Arizona and Long Beach State. The other two games weren’t any easier as the team faced Cal State Northridge and Washington State, a member of the Pac-10, one of the toughest soccer conferences in the country.
In the past four games, the Aggies only scored one point, whereas their opponents scored a combined eight. Not only was the team outscored, but they were also outshot an average of 13-9.
Commenting on the road losses, Head Coach Heather Cairns said, “I think we took the first three in stride because they were games where we felt like our opponents beat us. We were shaking with the Northridge loss. It was a game where we beat ourselves. It took us a bit of time to build our confidence back up this week.”
The soccer team looks to turn this streak around as they host intra-state rival BYU Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field.
“I think the things we did to prepare were really talking about our collective competitive spirit as a group – being able to compete with and for each other,” Cairns said.
Turning the losing streak around will prove to be a major challenge for the Ags. BYU is ranked No. 19 by SoccerBuzz.com and No. 22 in the NSCAA/adidas Top 25 Poll. The Cougars return eight starters and 16 letterwinners from last season’s team, which tied for second in the Mountain West Conference. BYU comes off a 1-0 loss to Fresno State, ranked third in the WAC, and a 3-2 win over Colorado.
The Cougars tout a 4-1 record on the season, and that comes after downing No. 15 Georgia and No. 21 Colorado. BYU runs a tight defense, only allowing four goals this season and keeping opponents to just 6.8 shots per game.
“They come out at teams hard,” Cairns said. “We want to come out equally hard against them.”
The Cougars boast a strong squad, led in scoring by sophomore Alyssa Vander Veur, who has two goals for four points on the season. Sophomore Katie Larkin, who has scored one goal and tacked on an assist, follows her closely. The scoring is spread throughout the team as four other players have scored a goal.
The goalkeeper for the Cougars is junior Erika Woodbury, who has made 12 saves on the season and only allowed four goals, giving her a solid .750 save percentage. Add to this the fact that Woodbury has had two shutouts on the season and BYU looks to be one of the most challenging teams USU will face this year.
Saturday’s match will mark the fourth meeting between the two teams. USU has not fared well against the Cougars in the past. In the first meeting with BYU in 1996, the Aggies were destroyed 6-0. The two teams didn’t play again until 2004, when BYU again won. The last meeting was in 2005, which resulted in a 5-0 Cougar blowout. The Aggies have not only lost at each meeting, but have yet to score against BYU.
“Last year they took it to us pretty good,” Cairns said. “I think it’s in the back of all our minds. Oh man, we have to prove something because we tanked against them last year.”
However, BYU has never played in Logan before, where the Ags are 17-12-7 overall since moving to the Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field.
The Aggies are led in scoring by junior midfielder Dana Peart, who has two goals and three points on the season. She is joined in scoring by junior midfielder Andra Hansen and senior midfielder Sierra Smith. Senior forward Charity Weston, who led the team in scoring last season, has yet to score.
“I really think it’s going to come down to a total group effort,” Cairns said. “Somebody’s going to have to pull it off. Our team is not the team that succeeds if we’re just jumping on one person’s back. Everyone is going to have to take responsibility for getting things done.”
After Saturday’s game, the Aggies face two more intra-state rivals as they travel to Cedar City to battle Southern Utah on Friday, and head north on Sunday to take on No. 25 University of Utah.