Oct. 22, 2010

Box Score

LOGAN, Utah - Utah State soccer lost its first Western Athletic Conference match of the year to Fresno State on Friday, 1-0, at Bulldog Stadium in Fresno.

With the loss, the Aggies fall to 8-5-5 overall and 4-1-1 in conference play. Fresno State improves to 6-8-2 overall and 2-3-0 in WAC action. Utah State is now 2-5-2 against Fresno State in nine meetings. Fresno State is the only team in the WAC that Utah State does not have a winning record against.

"Fresno State out worked us and played like a team that had some fired and wants to make qualify for the conference tournament. We played safe. We had a couple of chances and did a decent job of limiting their direct attack," USU head coach Heather Cairns said.

Senior forward Lauren Hansen still stands on the cusp of history. Hansen stands alone in second place in career goals scored with 34. She is one goal away from tying Jayme Gordy (1997-2000) for first place in career goals. She still has 77 career points, tying her with Gordy's career total.

Utah State out-shot Fresno State 9-6 in the first half, led by three shots on goal by junior forward Shantel Flanary. Hansen also had three shots in the first half, while junior midfielder Chandra Salmon added two shots in the first 45 minutes.

Fresno State goalkeeper Kaitlyn Revel made an excellent save on a Flanary shot in the first half, which was one of five first-half saves by Revel.

The second half remained scoreless until the 83rd minute. Claudia Cardenas scored the game-winning goal off of passes by Bradlee DeShane and Lauren Lindstrom. The goal was the third of the season for Cardenas.

The goal was only the second allowed by Merrill in WAC play. She has four shutouts in six WAC matches and has a goals against average of 0.32.

Fresno State ended the match out-shooting Utah State 16-13. The Bulldogs also had four corner kicks to three by the Aggies. Fresno State's Revel had six saves to Merrill's two.

USU will conclude the two-game road swing to California, which is the Aggies' third trip to the Golden State this season, by taking on the 2009 WAC regular-season champion San Jose State, on Sunday, Oct. 24. The Aggies' final road regular-season match will start at 2 p.m. (MT).

Fans can follow USU soccer at http://twitter.com/USUsoccer and Utah State athletics at http://twitter.com/USUAthletics.