Women’s soccer to begin homestand
The Utah State University women’s soccer team will see another weekend of Big West Conference action as they host the University of the Pacific and California State University at Northridge this Friday and Sunday at Tower Field.
It seems as though the Aggies have been following a pattern in their past six games, losing two straight on the road, then winning two at home against UC Riverside and Cal State Fullerton, before traveling to UC Santa Barbara and Cal Poly and falling to both teams.
The Aggies will be looking to follow their pattern and add two more wins to their record of 5-8-1 overall (2-4 in the Big West Conference).
“We’re trying to come back after two losses on the road,” USU head coach Jen Kennedy Croft said. “I think we’ve played pretty well at home, so that’ll be a good factor for us.”
Currently, the Pacific Tigers hold a record of 9-5-0 overall and 2-3-0 in the Big West, ranking them seventh in league play. Pacific is coming off a 1-3 loss to Cal State Northridge winning only one of its road games this season.
Freshman Kimberly Force is currently pacing the Tiger offense, knocking in eight goals and five assists for a total of 21 points this season.
“Pacific has a couple of powerhouses,” Croft said. “Kim Force up top has been scoring a ton of goals for them, so we need to shut her down.”
Cal State Northridge is coming off of a win against Pacific and holds a 9-2-2 record overall (3-1-1 in league play). The Matadors are currently ranked second in the Big West.
Sharing the team high for goals this season are Lisa Gouvela and Erin Broadwell, both knocking in four goals. Gouvela has two assists, while Broadwell has one. Goalkeeper Jenny Williams has had eight shutouts this year, recording 63 saves and holds the opposition to 0.66 goals a game.
Utah State is currently ranked eighth in league play this year, with Amber Tracy leading with six goals and one assist for a total of 13 points.
Close behind is senior Becky Ward, who has posted three goals this year, including the game-winning goal against Nevada. Following Ward is freshman Heather Arnell with her first two career goals this season. Michelle Eversman and freshman Claire Schend both have posted one goal each.
Goalkeeper Tracy Brady is now in third place for all-time career minutes, playing for 1,533 minutes, while posting 95 career saves.
The Aggies hope to boost their record and recover from a rough weekend in California, Croft said.
“I’m hoping we can have our confidence back,” she said. “I hope we can play our game and not wait until the second half. I think being at home gives us some confidence and we seem to play well here, and hopefully that’ll be the case this weekend.”
The Aggies will face Pacific at 3 p.m. on Friday, and UC Northridge at noon on Sunday. Both games will be played on Tower Field.
Following this weekend’s games, the Aggies will finish their season at home against in-state rival the University of Utah on Thursday, Nov. 1 and the University of Idaho on Saturday, Nov. 4.