Women’s soccer takes down Redhawks in overtime
The Utah State women’s soccer team hit the road for their final two away games of the season. The Aggies’ first stop of the road trip was Friday afternoon in Seattle where they took on the Redhawks of Seattle University. USU won 2-1 in dramatic fashion, beating Seattle on a golden goal.
“I’m really proud of the way the team played today,” said USU head coach Heather Cairns. “To be on the road takes extra effort and extra focus.”
It was the ninth time this season the Aggies went into an overtime game and the second time they won on a golden goal.
Freshman Maris Hamblin scored the game-winning goal for the Aggies in the 98th minute.
The match didn’t start off well for the Aggies as the Redhawks took the early lead. Seattle’s Stephanie Verdoia, a Salt Lake City native, scored in the fourth minute.
“We got scored on four minutes into the match, so we weren’t mentally prepared for this match. Once they scored, we settled down and were fortunate to tie it before half,” Cairns said.
It was Verdoia’s eighth goal of the season, which ties her with Kristen Hamilton of Denver for the WAC lead.
USU tried to respond in the 11th minute but the shot by junior Jennifer Flynn was saved by Brianna Smallidge.
The Redhawks went on a run of four straight shots but only one really troubled USU senior goalkeeper Ashlyn Mulford, who made the save to keep the Aggies close.
In the 27th minute, USU had another opportunity to draw even, but Smallidge stopped the shot by junior Mari Miyashiro.
USU finally drew even in the 38th minute when junior defender Jackie Tillotson netted her first goal of the season. The goal came on an assist from Miyashiro, who now has five assists on the season – which is good enough for third in the WAC.
The first half came to a close with both teams tied 1-1 despite Seattle outshooting the Aggies 8-3. All three shots by USU were on goal.
The Aggies came out on fire to start the second half. In the first 15 minutes, USU had five shots compared to zero for Seattle. The Redhawks didn’t have a shot until the 71st minute.
“The girls came out with huge determination. Unfortunately we weren’t able to make it pay off,” Cairns said. “That’s where our team has really grown. In the past if we came out with that intensity we would have gotten frustrated if we didn’t score, but we didn’t. We kept plugging away until we got that opportunity to win it.”
Although USU had a hot start, they had no goals to show for it. Miyashiro and Tillotson both had opportunities to give the Aggies the lead but their shots were once again saved by Smallidge.
Seattle outshot USU 11-9 in regulation but USU had five shots on goal compared to just two by Seattle.
After a scoreless second half, the teams went into overtime. USU was 2-0-6 in previous overtime games.
“It was a back-and-forth match,” Cairns said. “Seattle is a top team in the conference. They are a high-quality team and have some really special attackers that work hard for each other. The game could have gone either way.”
Seattle came out in the first overtime as the more aggressive team with three shots and two corners in the first five minutes.
The Aggies responded in the 98th minute with a game winning golden goal by Hamblin. It was Hamblin’s first goal of the season and it couldn’t have come at a more crucial time as the first overtime was about to expire.
“This team has done a remarkable job of spreading the attacking responsibility around, ” Carins said. “We have a lot of players that’s its their job to put the ball in the back of the net, and that makes us very hard to defend.”
With the win USU moves to 8-2-6 on the season and remains at the top of the WAC standings with a 3-0-2 conference record.
The Aggies will finish their road trip on Sunday at 2 p.m. when they play the University of Idaho.
“I tell the girls two things,” Cairns said. “First we have to qualify for the conference tournament and we have to get to four wins, and we want to do that sooner rather than later. We don’t want to leave that to the last weekend of games, especially in Logan. We want to take care of things when we can and that’s why it’s important for us to come out strong on Sunday.”
‒ jborba@aggiemail.usu.edu
Twitter: @JBorba15