Women’s soccer looks to continue BW perfection
The Utah State women’s soccer team is preparing to finish up its three-game home stand Sunday when it hosts Idaho. The game will take place at the Chuck and Gloria Bell Field at noon.
“Utah State is coming off of two wins this past weekend and they are going to be a challenge for us,” said Idaho Head Coach Arby Busy. “They’re playing really well right now. Right now we need to get better. We are not where we want to be. We took two huge steps backwards this past weekend and we need to get better.”
USU is looking to continue its four-game winning streak, the longest the program has ever held.
The Aggies are now 8-4 on the year. This season’s team has also tied the record for most wins in a season.
For Utah State, six of the eight wins have been shutouts. The Aggie defense has only allowed six goals so far into the season.
Pacific’s lone goal against the Aggies on Sunday accounted for the first goal allowed by USU since its 1-0 overtime loss to the University of Utah on Sept. 14.
The team is coming off of two wins over last weekend. Both were in conference play which puts USU at 2-0 in their conference.
Those wins came against Pacific and Cal State Northridge.
The Aggies are 2-0 in Big West Conference play. The only other team that is currently undefeated in the league is Cal Poly, which was ranked 21st in the nation earlier this season.
Senior Amber Tracy was recognized as the USU Athlete of the Week for her play in those two wins.
Tracy scored the winning goal in both of the competitions. She has scored the winning goal in three matches this season and her total goals on the season are now at four.
Tracy also added two assists in the last two matches.
The University of Idaho is 2-6-4. The Vandals lost their first two Big West Conference matches last weekend. Those losses come courtesy of Pacific and Northridge.
Idaho’s two wins came against Montana and Boise State, both games were at home. The Vandals are looking for a challenging game traveling to Logan.
Idaho has had a bright spot in its season. Senior Emily Nelson was named Big West Player of the Week in September.
Nelson has scored six goals this season – four more than anybody else on her team. She holds the Idaho career scoring record with 24 goals.
USU will leave on another road trip after Sunday’s game. The Aggies will travel to California to take on Long Beach State and UC Irvine on Thursday and Sunday, respectively.
Long Beach is 1-1 so far in the Big West, while UCI is 0-1-1 in league play.
-chrisbarn@cc.usu.edu