USU soccer set to kick off its road season
Despite a rocky start, the Utah State women’s soccer team has high hopes for its upcoming game against the University of Nevada, Reno.
This is UNR’s first year in Division I action, and the Aggies are hoping to use that to their advantage.
“I think they have a couple key players, but they are still very young. Hopefully, we can take advantage of that,” Head Coach Jen Croft said.
In their first two games of the season, the UNR Wolf Pack recorded two defeats against their first two opponents, Cal State Northridge (0-2), and UC Riverside (0-3). In the 2000 season, Nevada struggled to a 4-13-0 season and finished eighth in the Western Athletic Conference with a record of 0-7-0. Utah State University leads the all-time series with a 1-0 record as it defeated Nevada 4-0 last season.
One concern for Croft is a new playing surface.
“We are not playing at home, obviously, but it is a synthetic turf field, and a narrower field as well, and we’re not used to that, so there are a few things to look out for,” she said.
Coming off their 0-2 start last weekend, the Aggies hope to use some strategies they have learned from playing their first two opponents and see more success.
“We are going to play a little more defensively when they have the ball, and add a little more speed,” Croft said. “Basically, we’re going to look at things we didn’t do that well against Northwestern and University of Washington and apply them to Reno.
“I think it’ll be a good game for us and I’m pretty confident we’ll do well,” she said.
Freshmen Claire Schend and sophomore Amber Tracy are currently holding the top spots for points earned so far this season. They have each posted one goal apiece, Tracy scoring against Northwestern and Schend recorded her first colleg goal against the University of Washington.
Following the Nevada game, the Aggies will return to Utah for a couple of games in Odgen against Delaware University and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 14 and 15.