USU and SLCC to play home-and-home series in men’s soccer
After playing its first four games at home, the Utah State University men’s soccer club is ready for a change of scenery.
That change of scenery will have to come in the form of a 90-mile drive south as the Aggies will travel to Salt Lake City to play Salt Lake Community College Friday at 4 p.m.
The road trip will not last long, however, as the two teams will play a home-and-home series, with USU and SLCC playing at Tower Field Saturday at 4 p.m.
Only in his first season as Utah State’s head coach, Carlos Coirolo said he hasn’t had a chance to see the Bruins play, but said he expects them to be a well-seasoned team.
“From what I’ve heard, they’re usually a pretty good team,” he said. “I think they play together during the summer, so I expect them to be really good.”
One thing Coirolo said he knows the Aggies can expect from the Bruins is a well-coached team. SLCC has had the luxury of having the same head coach for several years now, he said.
While Coirolo expects SLCC to play solid soccer, he said he is more worried about execution on the USU side of the ball as opposed to shutting down the Bruin attack. In the Aggies’ two close losses from a week ago, they were able to create several scoring opportunities, but lacked patience in the penalty area, he said.
“We have to be more patient,” he said. “We move the ball well in the midfield, but when we get near the penalty area, we lose patience or make an ill-advised pass.”
It is this lack of patience which Coirolo said also gets the Aggies in trouble defensively. He said the team has put undue pressure on its defense by pushing players into the offensive half of the field too quickly.
“When we try to play too fast is when we get in trouble,” he said. “But, we are creating a lot of chances, we just need to finish.”
One Aggie who hasn’t had many problems finishing is forward Sterling Campbell. Although he was held scoreless in USU’s game against Weber State University, Campbell has found the back of the net six times in the Aggies’ other three games.
Despite the disappointment of losing two games, Coirolo said the team felt it should have won last weekend, he said the Aggies have put the games behind them, and have shown a lot of
character.
“The guy’s attitudes have been really positive this week,” he said.
– jasonwturner@cc.usu.edu