USU Soccer squad releases schedule
Utah State soccer head coach Heather Cairns released the Aggies’ 2006 schedule Thursday. USU is scheduled to play a 20-match ledger, including eight home matches at Chuck & Gloria Bell Soccer Field. The Aggies will open the 2006 season by hosting an exhibition match against Dixie College on Saturday, Aug. 19.
“I think our preseason schedule is challenging with three NCAA Tournament teams and two other teams that were on the bubble last year,” Cairns said. “This will be a great test for us right off the bat.
“Last year we faced a similar difficult preseason schedule and it made us very prepared for the challenging Western Athletic Conference and we tied for second in the conference. Hopefully, this year’s arduous preseason schedule will once again get us ready for the tough conference schedule. We also continue our local rivalries with Idaho State, as well as the teams within the state of Utah.
“It’s great that we have BYU coming to our place this season. That is the same day that football hosts Utah and it is Ag Day on campus. I hope that the local community will come out and support this one.”
Admission to all USU soccer matches is free.
USU kicks off regular season play on Aug. 25 at Pocatello, Idaho against Idaho State before returning home to host intra-state rival Weber State on Aug. 29.
September opens with four road matches for the Aggies, as they will head to Salt Lake City to face Washington State on Sept. 1 and Arizona on Sept. 3 in a tournament hosted by Utah. USU then journeys to San Francisco, Calif., to take on Long Beach State on Sept. 8 and Cal State Northridge on Sept. 10 in the University of San Francisco Tournament. Both Long Beach State and Cal State Northridge are USU’s former Big West opponents.
The Aggies open a stretch of three-straight intra-state foes on Sept. 16 by hosting BYU, then heading to Cedar City on Sept. 22 to face Southern Utah and then Salt Lake City on Sept. 24 to tangle with Utah.
USU returns to the friendly confines of Bell Soccer Field for three matches in a row, kicking off with Eastern Washington on Sept. 30. San Francisco is the Aggies’ opposition on Oct. 2, followed by Utah Valley State on Oct. 6
The Aggies open up their second season of Western Athletic Conference (WAC) action on Oct. 8 by heading to Ruston, La., to face Louisiana Tech. USU’s WAC home opener is Oct. 13 against San Jose State before the Aggies head across the Pacific to face defending regular season champion Hawai’i on Oct. 15.
The home portion of the schedule is wrapped up on Oct. 20 and 22 when the Aggies host Nevada and defending conference tournament champion Fresno State, respectively and then conclude regular season action on Oct. 27 against Boise State at Boise, Idaho, and Oct. 29 at Moscow, Idaho against Idaho.
If the Aggies finish in the top four in the WAC, they’ll play in the WAC Tournament Nov. 1-4 at a site to be announced at a later date. The 64-Team NCAA Tournament begins Nov. 10, with the College Cup on Dec. 1 and 3 at Cary, N.C.
USU’s schedule includes two teams ranked in the final NSCAA/adidas Top 25 Poll last season, as BYU was ranked No. 14 while Utah was No. 22. Three of the Aggies’ 2006 opponents reached the NCAA Tournament last season, as BYU, Utah and Weber State all advanced, with Weber State beating BYU in the first round, while Utah lost to Arizona, who then ended Weber State’s season.
Utah State returns 19 letterwinners and six starters from last season’s squad that went 7-9-4 on the year, including 4-2-1 in WAC play. Headlining the returners is senior midfielder Charity Weston, who was named first-team All-WAC last season, and with a repeat first-team honor can become the first player in USU history to be tabbed to the first-team all-conference list three-straight seasons. Weston led the Aggies and ranked fifth in the WAC with seven goals, as well as leading USU and ranking tied for fifth in the WAC with 18 points (7 goals, 4 assists).
Also returning in junior midfielder Dana Peart, who was second on the team with five goals, adding an assist for a total of 11 points. Another returner to the Aggie lineup is senior forward Charlsie Harris, who missed the 2005 season with an injury. Harris was second on the squad with six goals in 2004.
Cairns also announced that Weston and fellow senior midfielder Sierra Smith will be the 2006 team captains. Smith was tied for third on the team in points with seven on two goals and three assists.
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