Women’s soccer bests Eastern Washington, ties Portland State
Over the weekend the Utah State women’s soccer team traveled to Hillsboro, Ore. to compete in the Viking Classic hosted by Portland State University.
The Aggies played two while competing in the Viking Classic. USU came away with a 1-0 win on Friday night over Eastern Washington and on Sunday afternoon played Portland State to a 0-0 tie in double overtime.
“Overall this was a good weekend for us, I think we are getting better,” said USU head coach Heather Cairns. “I think we are in a period of growth and I was really happy with both games this weekend because both games we got better. Thats what it’s about, it’s about getting better throughout the season to peak during conference.”
The Aggies dominated the game against the Eastern Washington Eagles on Friday night but had only one goal to show for it. It took until the final five minutes of regulation for USU to take the lead. In the 85th minute, sophomore forward Jade Tarver found the back of the net on a pass from Mari Miyashiro.
The Aggies outshot the Eagles 17-9 and 5-2 on corner kicks. Keeper Ashley Mulford finished the game with six saves and a shutout victory.
The Aggies went into Sunday’s game against the Portland State Vikings looking for their third consecutive win of the season, but instead played to a 0-0 draw in their fourth overtime of the season.
The Vikings came out strong in the first half with four shots in four minutes. They outshot the Aggies 8-2 in the half.
“Ashlyn (Mulford) came up big today,” Cairns said. “In the first 15-20 minutes they pounded us a little bit and she was rock solid today.”
In the second half USU pummeled the PSU goal with 10 shots but couldn’t find the back of the net after 90 minutes of play.
“We lacked some polish in the final third today,” Cairns said. “We created a lot of corner kicks and crosses but weren’t able to capitalize on that. So today it was about finishing.”
Both teams played well in the overtime. USU had four shots on goal and PSU had three.
Mulford had a huge diving save to her left in the first overtime when a Portland State player broke through the Aggie defense and had a one-on-one with the Aggie goalkeeper. For the second consecutive game, Mulford finished with a shutout.
Mulford won Defensive Most Valuable Player honors for her two shutouts in the Viking Classic. Three other Aggies earned all-tournament honors in Jade Tarver, Maris Hamblin and Kendra Pemberton.
The Aggies return home for a match against the Pac-12’s Washington on Thursday afternoon at 4 p.m.