Aug. 21, 2006

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ON TAP: Utah State at Idaho State
Friday, Aug. 25, 5 p.m.
Pocatello, Idaho

UP NEXT: Utah State vs. Weber State
Tuesday, Aug. 29, 1 p.m.
Chuck & Gloria Bell Soccer Field

LOGAN, Utah - KICKING OFF 2006 - Utah State soccer officially opens the 2006 season by traveling to Pocatello, Idaho to face Idaho State on Friday, Aug. 25 in a match slated for 5 p.m. (MST) at ISU's Davis Field.

The Aggies return home to host intra-state rival Weber State on Tuesday, Aug. 29 at 4 p.m. (MST) at Chuck & Gloria Bell Soccer Field.

OPEN SESAME - This is the fourth time that Utah State has opened its regular-season schedule against Idaho State, in addition to an exhibition match in 2004. This is the second time out of the previous three openers that the Aggies have opened at Pocatello, going 1-1, winning, 2-0, in 1998 and losing, 2-0, in 1999.

Overall, Utah State is 2-8-0 in regular season openers, going 1-5 in road season-openers. The Aggies are also 2-8 in their first road match of the season.

LAST MATCH - Utah State played to a 1-1 draw with Dixie State in an exhibition match last Saturday. The Aggies tied despite outshooting the Rebels, 24-13, including 12-4 in the first half.

After the Rebels scored first in the 53rd minute, Utah State countered with a goal from senior forward Charity Weston in the 57th minute, taking a long pass off a free kick from freshman defender Lindsey Smart and burying the ball in the back of the net.

Coming on as a halftime substitution, sophomore goalkeeper Lisa Willardson made five saves in the second half and overtime periods, while fellow sophomore Ali Griffin recorded two saves in the first half.

WAC PRESEASON POLL - Utah State was tabbed fifth in the Preseason WAC Coaches' Poll, as the Aggies garnered 29 points. Defending conference tournament champion Fresno State was the preseason favorite, getting 46 votes including five of the eight first-place votes. Hawai'i, last year's regular season champion, had two first-place votes and 42 points. San Jose State was third with 34 points, while Nevada had 31 points, including a lone first-place vote. Utah State was followed by Boise State (20), Idaho (14) and Louisiana Tech (8).

STRENGTH AND EXPERIENCE IN NUMBERS - The Aggies have 19 returning letterwinners and six starters from last season's squad that went 7-9-4 on the year, including 4-2-1 in WAC play.

Headlining the returners is senior forward Charity Weston (5-4, Layton, Utah/Layton HS/San Jose State), who was named to the all-WAC Preseason Team, as well as first-team all-WAC last season. With a repeat first-team honor can become the first player in USU history to be tabbed to the first-team all-conference list three-straight seasons. Weston led the Aggies and ranked fifth in the WAC with seven goals, as well as leading USU and ranking tied for fifth in the WAC with 18 points (seven goals, four assists).

Also returning is junior midfielder Dana Peart (5-2, Brigham City, Utah/Box Elder HS), who was second on the team with five goals, adding an assist for a total of 11 points.

Another returner to the Aggie lineup is senior forward Charlsie Harris (5-6, Taylorsville, Utah/Taylorsville HS), who missed the 2005 season with an injury. Harris was second on the squad with six goals in 2004.

Weston and fellow senior midfielder Sierra Smith (5-6, Salt Lake City, Utah/East HS) will be the 2006 team captains. Smith was tied for third on the team in points with seven on two goals and three assists.

Cairns welcomes eight newcomers to the ranks as well, the smallest freshman class under Cairns since seven in her first season in 2003.

HOME SWEET HOME - Counting the exhibition match on Aug. 19, Utah State has nine home matches this season. Since moving to the Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field in 2002, the Aggies have gone 16-12-7 at home. In the two years prior to their move to Bell Field, the Aggies were just 6-12 at home. They have gone 8-2-1 against conference opponents since bedding down at Bell Field.

FIRSTS - Last year Utah State matched its most conference wins in school history as it went 4-2-1... The Aggies also tallied four wins in 2003, 1999, and 1998... The .643 conference winning percentage is a new school record, while the second place tie in the WAC standings is also the best conference finish in the program's 10 seasons.

CAIRNS CREEPING CLOSER - Entering her fourth season, Heather Cairns, already the winningest coach in USU soccer history by percentage, is just four wins shy of becoming the winningest head coach in Aggie soccer history for total victories. In her three seasons at the helm of Utah State, Cairns has compiled a 23-27-7 (.465) record, sitting four wins shy of Stacy Enos (1996-2000), who went 26-59 (.306) in five seasons with the Aggies.

TIME AND A HALF - Six of USU's 20 matches in 2005 went extra minutes, with the Aggies going 0-2-4 in those matches. The six overtime tilts were the most by an Aggie team since the 2003 team saw a similar six overtime matches, going 2-2-2. USU is 5-13-11 all-time in extra minutes.

A GOOD FORTUNE COOKIE - Twenty-two of USU's 26 goals last season and 18 of its 22 assists were scored by players returning in 2006. Thirteen of the goals and 11 of the assists were recorded by underclassmen.

PEART POUNCES EARLY - Junior midfielder Dana Peart started off last season by netting the Aggies' lone goal in their 2-1 loss to Northern Colorado in an exhibition match and then went on to score the lone goal in each of Utah State's next three matches.

NOTE-ABLE - Defender Jessica Darrow was the only freshman to start all 20 matches for the Aggies in 2005... USU out-scored its opponents 17-11 in the second half in 2005, but was out-scored 15-9 in the opening half... The Aggies were 5-0-1 when leading at the half, but 0-8-0 when trailing at the half. They were also unbeaten (5-0-2) when scoring first.

GOOD SIGNS - The Aggies showed signs of improvement from last year in Saturday's exhibition by rallying to tie and then going to overtime, as last year, Utah State was 2-9-0 when the opponent scored first and 0-2-4 in overtime. The Aggies also were 6-3-3 when taking more shots than the opposition and 6-6-1 when making fewer saves that the opposition, as well as 5-3-1 when having more corner kicks.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
IDAHO STATE - The Bengals have a new coach this season, as Alison Gibson takes over the helm, coming to ISU after spending five seasons at the University of San Francisco as an assistant.

Gibson returns nine starters and 12 letterwinners, including All-Big Sky award winners senior defender Jennifer Loo, senior forward Chantal Kim, and sophomore midfielder Kilee Quigley. Idaho State posted a 4-12-1 record in 2005, including a 1-4-1 Big Sky mark, which is ISU's worst overall record since the program's first season in 1998. Last year the Bengals were shut out in seven matches, as they only scored a total of 14 goals, led by Kim with three.

Idaho State was picked seventh in the eight-team Big Sky Conference Preseason Poll.

THE COACHES
Entering her fourth season, Heather Cairns, already the winningest coach in USU soccer history by percentage, is just four wins shy of becoming the winningest head coach in Aggie soccer history for total victories. In her three seasons at the helm of Utah State, Cairns has compiled a 23-27-7 (.465) record, sitting four wins shy of Stacy Enos (1996-2000), who went 26-59 (.306) in five seasons with the Aggies.

Idaho State bench-leader Alison Gibson is entering her first season at ISU, taking over the helm of the Bengals after spending the previous five years as an assistant at San Francisco.

SERIES HISTORY - Utah State and Idaho State are tied at 3-3 in the series, with the Aggies winning the last match-up, 2-0, last season on Sept. 17 at Logan, after the Bengals had won the previous two regular-season meetings. In that match, Charity Weston and Sierra Smith netted goals for Utah State, as the Aggies outshot the Bengals, 19-6, including 10-3 in the first half.

The teams met in an exhibition match in 2004, with Idaho State winning, 1-0, and in a spring contest this past spring, as the Aggies prevailed, 1-0.

RETURNING HOME - Utah State freshman midfielder Alysa Adams will be returning to her hometown Friday, as Adams is from Pocatello and attended Pocatello High School. Adams is the lone Idaho native on the Aggies' roster.

POLL POSITIONS - Utah State's 2006 schedule includes two teams ranked in the final NSCAA/adidas Top 25 Poll last season, as BYU was ranked No. 14 while Utah was No. 22. Three of the Aggies' 2006 opponents reached the NCAA Tournament last season, as BYU, Utah and Weber State all advanced.

Arizona is ranked No. 17 in the preseason NSCAA/adidas Top 25 Poll, while four of the Aggies' 2006 opponents are recognized by Soccer Buzz Magazine's Preseason Top 30 Rankings. BYU is at No. 23 and Long Beach State is at No. 28. Arizona and Utah are among others receiving votes. In Soccer Buzz's West Regional Rankings, BYU is No. 7, Long Beach State is No. 9, while Utah and Arizona are 11th and 12th, respectively, and Washington State is among others receiving votes.

WAC BITS - The WAC returns 17 all-conference players for the 2006 season, with Nevada leading the way with five all-WAC players. Senior forward Charity Weston is Utah State's lone returning all-WAC honoree, earning first-team honors last season... Five of the eight teams in the WAC return at least eight starters. Boise State, Nevada and San Jose State lead the way with 10 each, while Utah State returns six... Of the 92 non-conference match-ups, 15 are against teams that played in the NCAA Tournament. Utah State faces Tournament teams Weber State (Aug. 29), BYU (Sept. 16) and Utah (Sept. 24).