USU women’s soccer splits weekend road games

Photo by Wade Denniston/USU Athletics

This weekend the Utah State University women’s soccer team went 1-1 on its road trip to Illinois. Though this weekend’s record was so-so, the Aggies managed to have some major bright spots in both matches.

Friday’s loss against Illinois State University proved to be a battle to the very end.

Down 2-1 with less than eight minutes left to play, the Aggies rocketed off three shots, but none reached the back of the net. 

The shots came from junior defender Imelda Williams, who made contact on a corner kick in the 82nd minute, junior midfielder Amber Marshall in the 86th minute and senior midfielder Kanyan Merrill in the 90th minute. 

The Redbirds finished the match on top with a final score of 2-1. Junior midfielder Amber Marshall scored Utah State’s only goal. Utah State had a total of 15 shots, eight on goal and six corner kicks.

While the team’s eleventh-hour effort didn’t pan out, it was able to take the momentum from Friday’s match and keep it rolling into Sunday.

In the 32nd minute of play against the University of Illinois at Chicago, freshman midfielder Megan Astle got the ball, turned and shot it from 30 yards. The ball launched right into the back of the net. It was Astle’s first goal of her collegiate career. She is the ninth Aggie to score this season.

Astle wasn’t the only freshman to have a stellar game on Sunday. Freshman goalkeeper Diera Walton recorded her second clean sheet of the 2019 season. Walton recorded 5 saves in Sunday’s match, which brought her up to a total of 30 saves this season.

Utah State recorded nine total shots against UIC, five on goal. Sophomore forward Marli Neiderhauser logged three of those shots, all on goal. 

The Aggies walked away with a 1-0 victory and a current record of 4-3-0 for the season.

Up next, Utah State will take on Idaho State University at home on Sunday. Game time is set for 1 p.m.