Sept. 10, 2006

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - Utah State senior midfielder Sierra Smith netted her first goal of the season in the Aggies' 2-1 loss to former Big West opponent Cal State Northridge Sunday afternoon in the City By The Bay Classic, hosted by the University of San Francisco.

The Aggies outshot the Matadors, 12-11, including 6-5 in shots on goal, as Utah State falls to 2-4 with the loss, dropping its fourth in a row after a 2-0 start. CSUN evens its record at 3-3.

Utah State is now 2-3 against its former fellow Big West Conference mate, Cal State Northridge.

"It was a disappointing match," Utah State head coach Heather Cairns said. "We had been making progress, but we took a step backward today. We did not play smart enough and did not play to our talent."

The Matadors got on the board two seconds into the 15th minute on a header from Tessa Binkley off a corner kick by Devon Nizich.

Utah State had a chance to even the score at 1-all in the 39th minute as the Aggies drew a foul in the Matadors' box to earn a penalty kick. Senior forward Charity Weston took the PK and missed to the left, leaving the Aggies trailing, 1-0, as they took that score into halftime.

Late in the half the Aggies applied pressure, getting three shots in the final three minutes, but none could find the net.

CSUN tallied a second goal two seconds into the 72nd minute after a goal by Nizich off an assist on a throw-in by Sydney Vermillion.

Utah State netted its goal in the 81st minute as freshman defender Lindsey Smart took a free kick and fed Smith, who netted her third career goal.

The Aggies applied pressure late, as Weston had two shots in the final moments, but both were denied.

Sunday was Utah State's final regular-season neutral field match, and the Aggies are now 9-8-1 all-time in neutral field matches.

"We have a week of training and practice to fine tune some things and get ready for the BYU match Saturday," Cairns said.

Utah State hosts intra-state rival BYU on Saturday, Sept. 16 at 1 p.m. at Chuck & Gloria Bell Soccer Field.

Utah State (2-4-0) vs. CS Northridge (3-3-0) Date: Sep 10, 2006  Attendance: 100 Weather: Sunny
 Goals by period       1  2  Tot ------------------------------- Utah State..........  0  1 -  1 CS Northridge.......  1  1 -  2
 SCORING SUMMARY:  1.  14:02 CSUN Binkley, Tessa (1) (Nizich, Devon) - header off corner  2.  71:02 CSUN Nizich, Devon (1) (Vermillion, Sydney) - shot off throw in  3.  80:40 USU Smith, Sierra (1) (Smart, Lindsey)
 Shots: Utah State 12, CS Northridge 11 Saves: Utah State 3 (Griffin, Ali 2; TEAM 1), CS Northridge 5 (Cline, April 4; TEAM 1) Univ. of San Francisco City By The Bay Classic.