Sept. 1, 2006

Box Score

SALT LAKE CITY - Utah State soccer suffered its first loss of the season, falling to 17th-ranked Arizona, 3-0, Friday evening in the first match of the University of Utah Fall Classic held at Utah's Ute Field.

The Aggies and Wildcats now have identical 2-1 records on the season.

Utah State continues action in the Fall Classic on Sunday, Sept. 3, at 11 a.m. (MST) facing another Pac-10 team in Washington State. Live stats will be available through cstv.com's gametracker through the women's soccer page on www.utahstateaggies.com.

Arizona struck early, hitting the net just 1:47 into the match, as London King nailed a shot from about 10 yards out off an assist from Kaity Heath.

Utah State countered with a scoring threat less than a minute later, as junior midfielder Dana Peart fired a shot from the left that Arizona goalkeeper Chelsea McIntyre snared, denying the Aggies' their lone shot on goal of the half.

Arizona went up 2-0 in the 16th minute, on a goal by Jasmine Namdar from the left wing on an assist by Gianna DeSaverio.

King tacked on the third goal of the match and her second of the day, drilling a shot from near the penalty spot that ricocheted off the cross bar and past the goal line. Mackenzie Mutz assisted on the goal with a cross from the right wing.

"Arizona is a great team, they made us pay for some mistakes we made early in the game," Utah State head coach Heather Cairns said. "Their third goal was just phenenomal but on their first two goals, they really pulled our backline out of shape and beat us individually. They put our back line under more pressure than either Idaho State nor Weber State did in our first two matches, so it was great to learn and have to figure out how to defend against that. We did a great job of doing that in the second half, by keeping our defensive shape a little bit more and we were able to string together some more passes."

Freshman defender Lindsey Smart denied another Arizona goal late in the first half by clearing a shot off the line that had gotten past sophomore goalkeeper Ali Griffin.

Arizona had a controlling 12-1 shots advantage in the first half, including 7-1 in shots on goal as Griffin recorded three saves in the half.

Utah State created more scoring threats in the second half, as Jessica Williams had perhaps the Aggies' best chance of the match with a shot from just inside the 18-yard box that McIntyre dove and saved.

The final shot count was Arizona 16-2, including 9-2 in shots on goal. Griffin ended with six saves in the match.

"They were athletic and speedy, but they were also better than us tactically, so that made them look even faster than they were too," Cairns said. "Their team speed of play makes them seem even faster as well. We struggled with that in the beginning because holy cow, the speed of play in this game was a world of difference from either of our first two matches. It took us a while to get used to, but we wanted to make sure we got better and we learned some things that will help us later on in the season, beginning Sunday."

Utah State welcomed sophomore midfielder Lacey Christenson and sophomore defender Laura Baggaley back to the lineup, as the duo got playing time for the first time this season as they are coming back from injuries.

"We are working them back into play as well as some others, including Charlsie Harris and Candice Clark getting more consecutive minutes, so they will help us down the line," Cairns said.

Harris missed the 2005 season with a knee injury and Clark had a spring injury.

Following this weekend's action, Utah State heads to San Francisco, Calif., to participate in the City By The Bay Classic. The Aggies will face Long Beach State on Friday, Sept. 8 at 8:30 p.m. (MST) and Cal State Northridge on Sunday, Sept. 10 at 1 p.m. (MST).

Utah State returns to the friendly confines of Chuck & Gloria Bell Soccer Field to host intra-state rival BYU on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 1 p.m.

 Arizona (2-1-0) vs. Utah State (1-2-0) Date: Sep 01, 2006  Attendance: Weather: 82 degrees, sunny
 Goals by period       1  2  Tot ------------------------------- Arizona.............  3  0 -  3 Utah State..........  0  0 -  0
 SCORING SUMMARY:  1.   1:47 ARIZ King, London (1) (Heath, Kaity) - shot from left side to ride side of goal  2.  16:04 ARIZ Namdar, Jasmine (1) (DeSaverio, Gianna) - shot from left side to ride side of goal  3.  24:45 ARIZ King, London (2) (Mutz, Macke) - shot from ten yards hits top bar
 Shots: Arizona 16, Utah State 2 Saves: Arizona 2 (McIntyre, Chelsea 2), Utah State 6 (Griffin, Ali 5; TEAM 1) Univ. of Utah Fall Classic. Utah State's first-ever meeting vs. Arizona and first Pac-10 opponent since 2001. USU now 1-4-0 all-time vs. Pac-10 opponents.