Oct. 13, 2008
LOGAN, Utah - ON THE PITCH-This week, Utah State soccer will end its home schedule with Western Athletic Conference matches against Nevada on Friday, Oct. 17 at 3 p.m. and Fresno State on Sunday, Oct. 19 at 1 p.m.
Last week, the Aggies started conference play with a bang, scoring six goals in two match as USU defeated Idaho at home and Boise State on the road. Both the Aggie football team and the Aggie soccer team will take on the Wolf Pack this week. The football team will travel to Reno on Saturday, Oct. 18.
Fresno State tied Hawai`i, 0-0 in double overtime. This is the fourth game that has been decided in extra minutes. Kaitlyn Revel made eleven saves in the sixth shutout of the season for the Bulldog defense. A steady Bulldog defense was up for the challenge and kept the first half scoreless. Nicole Gutierrez and the offense made several good attempts, but were unable to get a shot off.
Nevada fell 1-0 to San Jose State on Sunday to hand the Wolf Pack their first WAC loss of the season. With the loss, Nevada fell to 1-10-2 (1-1 WAC) while Spartans improved to 3-7-1 (1-1 WAC). In the first minute of the game Nevada's Ellie Stott recorded the Pack's first shot of the game. Samantha Miller played the ball from midfield to Cristen Drummond. Drummond took the ball up field, cut in and crossed the ball to Stott who's low, driven shot was blocked by San Jose State keeper Nina Butera. San Jose State took a 1-0 lead in the 3rd minute as Stephanie Righetti played Emmy Belding through the Nevada defense. Belding hit a shot far post that beat Nevada keeper Marie Cove to the far post as the Spartans took an early 1-0 lead. Nevada ended the game with 14 shots (six on goal) while San Jose State ended the game with nine (two on goal). Miller and Zmirak each recorded four shots. Cove ended the game with one save while Butera made six.
The Aggies are 0-3-2 in five meetings with Fresno State. Last season, the Aggies lost at Fresno State, 1-0. USU is 5-2 against Nevada. In 2007, the Aggies won at Nevada, 2-0.
GAMETRACKER-Fans can follow all the Aggie home games through the USU web site at www.UtahStateAggies.com via GameTracker, a free service, which updates play-by-play and statistics throughout the game.
NOW THEY REALLY MATTER-Utah State began its fourth season in the Western Athletic Conference on Oct. 10 against Idaho. The Aggies are now 4-0 in WAC openers after its 4-0 win against the Vandals. This is the second-straight season that the Aggies have started WAC play with the Vandals. Last season, Utah State defeated Idaho, 4-0. In 2005 and 2006, the Aggies defeated Louisiana Tech to begin conference play. In 2005, Utah State won 2-1 in Logan, while the Aggies won 2-0 in 2006 in Ruston.
SPREADING THE WEALTH-The Aggies have had several players involved in scoring this season. Only four players have scored at least three goals, Lauren Hansen (5), Erin Salmon (3) and Shantel Flanary (4). Nine different players have had an assists and two different players have two or more, Lindsey Smart (2) and Sydne Porter (2).
AWESOME ALI-Senior goalkeeper Ali Griffin had two solid performances to start her final season in the WAC. Griffin didn't allow a goal in over 172 minutes as the Aggies defeated Idaho 4-0 and Boise State 2-0. Griffin increased her Utah State career lead in shutouts to 20. She had seven shut outs in the two matches to help USU jump out to an early lead in the WAC standings. With 219 career saves, Griffin is now tied for second all-time. Griffin is tied for second with Mackenzie Hyer (1996-99). The all-time saves leader is Megan Mills (2001-04) who had 273 saves.
AROUND THE WAC-After the first week of WAC action, Utah State is the only team with a 2-0 record. Fresno State and Louisiana Tech are the only two teams that don't have losses in WAC play. The Bulldogs are 1-0-1 after an overtime win over San Jose State and an overtime tie against Hawai`i. Four teams are looking for wins after the first week, Louisiana Tech, Boise State, Hawai`i and Idaho. The Broncos, Rainbow Wahine and the Vandals are all 0-1-1.
ALL GROWN UP-Utah State's "baby Aggies" seem to have all grown up. Against Idaho, all four goals were scored by freshmen. Shantel Flanary scored her third and fourth goals, respectively. Summer Tillotson scored the game winning goal which was her second game winner of the season, and Marissa Sanchez scored her first collegiate goal. Five different newcomers have scored a point for the Aggies this season.
FAB FIVE-There are only five Aggies that have played in every match this season seniors Alyssa Lowry and Jessie Malaska, juniors Lindsey Smart and Sydne Porter and sophomore Stefani Shiozaki. There are only five players who have played at least 1,200 minutes, Smart, Porter, Lowry, Malaska and Ali Griffin.
CLIMBING THE LADDER-With Utah State strong offensive out put last week, several Aggies are climbing the all-time leader charts. Sophomore forward Lauren Hansen is tied for sixth all time in points scored with 29. Hansen is also tied for fifth in goals scored with 14, while senior forward Candice Clark is tied for seventh with 11 goals scored. Junior defender Lindsey Smart is tied for third in assists with 10. Senior goalkeeper Ali Griffin is also still first in shutouts with 20 after four shutouts this season. Griffin is second on the all-time saves list with 219 saves. She trails all-time save leader Megan Mills (2001-04) who had 273 saves.
FIRST TIME-Freshman goalkeeper Molli Merrill made her first collegiate start against UTEP on Sept. 14. The Bountiful, Utah, native had played 90 minutes total prior to her start against the Miners. Merrill played the second half in both the Oregon and Oregon State matches. After allowing an early first-half goal, Merrill settled down not allowing a goal the rest of the match. Merrill has seven saves and an 0.50 goals against average.
AGAINST THE GEM STATE-The Aggies are 21-7 against teams from the Gem State, including Boise State, Idaho and Idaho State. Utah State is 5-4 against the Bengals, having already lost to ISU 2-1 in overtime to open the 2008 season. The Aggies defeated both Idaho and Boise State last week. Utah State now holds a 6-3 record against the Broncos. Last season, the Aggies fell to the Broncos, 2-1 in Logan. Utah State had won the two previous meeting before. USU holds an impressive 9-1 record against the Vandals, including all three meetings since joining the WAC in 2005. The Aggies only loss to Idaho came in the Big West Tournament in 2002 when the Vandals captured a 3-2 double overtime victory.
GOT MY EYE ON YOU-Forward Erin Salmon is close to entering the Aggies all-time scoring lists. The junior has eight career goals and 20 career points. After scoring a goal in the Aggies' 2-1 win over Wyoming, Salmon inches closer to the top 10 in both goals scored and points. Senior Candice Clark is 10th in both goals scored (10) and points (25). Clark is tied for 10th with Emily Sutherland (1996-99).
AGGIE INFORMATION-Sophomore Lauren Hansen leads the team in points scored with 12 off of five goals and two assists... Freshman Marissa scored her first collegiate goal in the Aggies win over Idaho... Both junior transfer Andrea Seledee and freshman Summer Tillotson got their first assists against UTSA on Sept. 18... Junior Sydne Porter had two assist in the wins against Boise State and Idaho... Freshman midfielder Chandra Salmon earned her first collegiate point with an assist in the win against UTEP... Senior forward Candice Clark returned from injury with her first goal of the season in the win against Northern Colorado... Freshman defender Summer Tillotson scored her first collegiate goal off a penalty kick in the Aggies' win over Wyoming on Sept. 28... Her brother was a member of the Utah State basketball team, while her dad played football for the Aggies... In the win against UNC, four different Aggies earned at least one point with Flanary, Clark and Lauren Hansen scoring goals and Flanary and Lindsey Smart adding assists.
WAC PRESEASON POLL-For the second-straight season Utah State was tabbed third in the Preseason WAC Coaches' Poll, as the Aggies garnered 37 points. Junior defender Lindsey Smart was named to the Preseason all-WAC soccer team and was WAC Preseason co-Defensive Player of the Year also for the second consecutive year.
FISHY SITUATION-Things are getting awfully fishy for the Aggies. Junior Erin Salmon scored the first goal of the season for Utah State off the dish from sophomore Heather Pond. To add to the underwater element, freshman midfielder Chandra Salmon has now started five of the Aggies first seven matches. Both Salmon's had a fin so to speak in the Aggies, 2-1, win over UTEP. Erin Salmon scored the game-winning goal for her second goal of the season. Chandra Salmon had her first collegiate assist with her pass to Lauren Hansen to tie the score 1-1. Erin Salmon proved once again to be one of the fastest in the pond by scoring her third goal of the season in the Aggies' win over Wyoming.
THE COACH-Entering her sixth season at Utah State is Heather Cairns, who became the winningest coach in school history after recording her 27th career victory on Sept. 30, 2006, defeating Eastern Washington 1-0. In her five plus seasons at the helm of the Aggies, Cairns has compiled a 50-53-10 (.477) record passing former head coach Stacy Enos (1996-2000) who went 26-59 (.306) in five seasons with the Aggies. Cairns' teams have also recorded a school record 36 shutouts in the last five seasons. USU recorded a total of just 16 shutouts in the six years prior to Cairns' appointment as head coach.
CLOSE CALLS-The Aggies have a 7-7-1 record this season, and Utah State has been in every single match. Four of the Aggies six losses have come by only one goal (L, 1-2 vs. Idaho State; L, 0-1 Oregon; L, 1-2 Oregon State; L, Cal Poly, 0-1).
NOTHING BUT ZEROES-There have been 11 shutouts in Utah State matches this season. Senior goalkeeper Ali Griffin has four shutouts this season, including the 0-0 tie against Texas State. In turn, the Aggies have been shut out five times: two at home (Texas State and Long Beach State) and three on the road (Oregon , Utah and Cal Poly).
WACTASTIC-Utah State will play 11 teams this season who are currently or have been members of the Western Athletic Conference. Utah, Wyoming and BYU were members of the WAC through 1998. UTEP was a WAC school through the 2004-05 school year. USU will also take on the seven WAC schools that sponsor women's soccer (Boise State, Fresno State, Hawai`i, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada and San Jose State). So far this season, the Aggies are 2-2 against former or current WAC teams with wins over UTEP and Wyoming and losses to Utah and BYU.
WAC INFORMATION-The WAC will continue its regular-season play as a single round-robin format (plus a points system) for a total of seven conference matches. The points system allows each team to receive three points for a win and one point for a tie. The top six teams at the end of the regular season advance to the WAC Tournament which will be held Nov. 6-7, 9 in Reno, Nevada.
Aggie Algebra
1-The total number of collegiate assists that goalkeeper Ali Griffin has after assisting on Shantel Flanary's first goal in the win against Seattle on Aug. 24.
2-USU opponents on the 2008 schedule that played in last year's NCAA Tournament, including BYU and Hawai`i.
3-The number of goals that junior Erin Salmon has scored this season to match a career high.
4-Where sophomore Lauren Hansen stands in the WAC in goals scored with five.
5-The number of starters to have played in every match (Lindsey Smart, Stefani Shiozaki, Sydne Porter, Alyssa Lowry and Jessie Malaska).
6-The number of goals the Aggies have scored in WAC matches, compared to the next teams that has scored two (Boise State and Louisiana Tech).
7-The number of season-high saves that Ali Griffin had against BYU on Oct. 2.
9A-The number of Aggies that have an assist this season, including three newcomers (Summer Tillotson, Andrea Seledee and Chandra Salmon).
9B-The number of brothers and sisters Aggie freshman Shantel Flanary has.
10-The number of freshmen the young Aggie team has on the roster this season.
19-Players from the state of Utah on the roster.
27-Total number of career points by senior Candice Clark which makes her ninth on the all-time Aggie list.
50-The total number of points that the Aggies have scored this season off of 19 goals and 12 assists.
185-The number of shots that the Aggies have taken this season.
4,897-Career minutes Griffin has at goalkeeper to rank second on the career minutes list behind Megan Mills (2001-04) who logged 5,196 minutes.
