Oct. 17, 2011

LOGAN, Utah - - KICKING OFF - With a win last week at Nevada, the Utah State women's soccer team has now won three-straight matches to start the month of October. For the second-straight week, the Aggies will have only one match this week, traveling to Moscow to take on Idaho on Friday, Oct. 21 at 4 p.m. (MT). Utah State has three regular-season matches remaining this season and will end the regular season at the friendly confines of Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field against San Jose State on Oct. 28 and Fresno State on Oct. 30.

USU Weekly Soccer Notes

SERIES HISTORY vs. IDAHO - Utah State holds a 11-1-0 overall record against Idaho as both teams have been members of both the WAC and Big West Conferences. The Vandals only win came in 2001 in a Big West match. Idaho captured a double overtime 3-2 win in Logan. Last season in Logan, Utah State earned a 2-0 win behind a pair of goals by Shantel Flanary.

So far this season, Idaho is 6-8-3 overall and 2-2-1 in WAC matches with wins against Louisiana Tech and Hawai`i and losses to San Jose State and Fresno State. The Vandals tied New Mexico State as well. Offensively, Idaho continues to be led by the powerful Chelsea Small who has nine goals and three assists for 21 points. Amazingly, the Vandals have used four different goalkeepers this season. Carolina Towles has seen the bulk of the action playing in nine matches and playing over 800 minutes. Towles has allowed 16 goals for a 1.77 goals against average.

HOME SWEET HOME - With the win against Louisiana Tech on Oct. 9, Utah State won its 10th match. The Aggies have now won at least 10 matches six of the last nine seasons. The record for wins in a season is 13 in 2008. USU now holds a 11-4-1 record. With the win, the Aggies improve to 7-0-0 this season at home which is their best-ever start. The seven wins ties both the 2010 team that went 7-1-2 at home and the 2008 squad that was 7-2-1 at Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field.

PEMBERTON MAKING MARK - Sophomore midfielder is making her mark in the Aggie record books this season. With an assist of a Mari Miyashiro goal, Pemberton now leads the team with seven assists this season. She now has 12 career assists and is tied for third in career assists with Aggie-great Charity Weston (2003-06). She is just three assists from tying Lindsey Smart's (2006-09) career record of 15 helpers. Senior forward Shantel Flanary also moved up the chart to second with an assist against Louisiana Tech. She now has 13 assists and is just two shy from tying Smart's record. Pemberton also tied the record for assists in a single season with seven. She tied Amber Tracy who had seven assists during the 2003 season.

AGGIES IN THE WAC RANKINGS - Goalkeeper Molli Merrill has slowly but surely risen to the top of the WAC rankings. In overall matches, the senior is first in the league in goals against average (0.70) and save perentage (.828). In conference only matches, she is also first in GAA (0.51).

Overall, Shantel Flanary is now second in the WAC in points (20) behind Idaho's Chelsea Small's 21 points. Flanary and Small are tied for first in goals scored with nine. Her four game-winning goals this season are also first in the league. In WAC only matches, Kendra Pemberton is first in points scored (10) and goals (4).

WAC OPENERS - Utah State is now 5-2 in Western Athletic Conference openers after a tough 2-1 double overtime loss to Hawai`i on Sept. 30. The Aggies' only other loss came in 2009 when USU lost at Nevada, 1-0, to open its fifth season in the WAC. In 2010, the Aggies captured a 1-0 win against Louisiana Tech in Ruston when then-senior Heather Pond scored her first goal of the season. This was the first time in seven seasons that Utah State will open WAC play against Hawai`i. Besides Nevada, the Aggies have also taken on Louisiana Tech three times in WAC openers. USU has also faced Idaho twice in conference openers.

AGGIES IN WAC OPENERS2005 -- Louisiana Tech, W, 2-02006 -- at Louisiana Tech, W, 2-12007 -- at Idaho W, 4-02008 -- Idaho W, 4-02009 -- at Nevada L, 0-12010 -- Louisiana Tech, W, 1-02011 -- at Hawai`i, L, 1-2

AROUND THE WAC - With a win and a tie last week, Hawai`i stands alone in the WAC standings with 10 points. Utah State holds second place with nine points. Idaho's seven points put them alone in third place, followed by Fresno State with six points. New Mexico State and San Jose State are tied for fifth with four points, while Louisiana Tech and Nevada are tied for seventh with three points.

Upcoming Promotions * Oct. 28 ­- HURD/Student Day vs. San Jose State: The student group the HURD will take part in on-field activities.

* Oct. 30 ­- Senior Day/Autograph Day vs. Fresno: Come get the autograph of your favorite Utah State soccer players as the team will be available to sign posters following the match against the Bulldogs. Utah State will also honor its five seniors: Molli Merrill, Summer Tillotson, Shantel Flanary, Marissa Sanchez and Chandra Salmon-Christensen.

GAME-WINNING GOALS - Five different Aggies have scored game-winning goals for the Utah State this season led by four by Shantel Flanary. Kendra Pemberton is second with three, including two in league matches. With the game-winning goal against Nevada on Oct. 16, Natalie Norris now has two game winners. Both Jennifer Flynn and Mari Miyashiro have added one game-winning goal.

PLAYING TIME - Six different Aggies have started all 16 matches this season for Utah State. Led by seniors Shantel Flanary, Summer Tillotson and Molli Merrill along with junior Natalie Norris, sophomore Jessica Hoskin and freshman Taryn Rose have all started all 16 matches. HEADS UP - Aggie defender Natalie Norris has really used her head this season. The junior has three goals this season two of which have been headers. She has two headers off of corner kicks by Kendra Pemberton and Summer Tillotson, respectively.

CARDIAC KIDS - Utah State has been keeping its fans on its toes this season. In seven of USU's 11 wins this season, the Aggies have captured one-goal victories. The Aggies won three-straight 1-0 matches, before exploding for six goals against Idaho State on Sept. 11. Senior forward Shantel Flanary has had four of the Aggies' game-winning goals. Sophomores Jennifer Flynn, Kendra Pemberton (2) and Mari Miyashiro and junior Natalie Norris have the six other game-winning goals.

CLOSE CALLS - The Aggies have had several close calls this year. In four losses this season, three of them have been one-goal losses. USU lost in double overtime to Hawai`i, 2-1 and has a pair of 1-0 losses to Tulsa and BYU.

THE 80/70 CLUB - Seniors Chandra Salmon-Christensen, Summer Tillotson and Shantel Flanary have entered a very exclusive club. All three have played in at least 80 matches, while starting at least 70 in their four-year Utah State careers. Salmon-Christensen, Tillotson and Flanary have all played 80 matches so far in their Aggie careers. Flanary and Tillotson have both started 72 matches, while Salmon-Christensen has started 75.

THE FIRST 45 - The Aggies have been a second-half scoring team all season. Utah State has only scored nine goals in the first 45 minutes, compared to 15 in the second half. USU has been tied nine times at half time, but the Aggies have a stellar record in those matches, going 6-2-1. USU is a perfect 4-0-0 when leading at the half.

CLIMBING THE CHARTS - Senior forward Shantel Flanary scored a goal and added an assist last week to climb up the Aggie record books. She is now alone in third place with 33 goals. She is only four away from tying Aggie-great Lauren Hansen who set the record last season with 37 goals scored. Flanary is now second all-time in career points scored with 79 just five points behind Hansen's USU-record 84 points.

TYING A SCHOOL RECORD - Utah State's eight-straight wins to start the season tied a school record for consecutive wins. In 2008, the Aggies won eight-straight matches en route to the finals of the WAC Tournament. USU is one win away from tying last seasons win total when the Aggies finished the season 9-7-5.

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.

ON THE PITCH - As the regular season nears its conclusion, the Aggies have one remaining regular-season road match at Idaho on Oct. 21. Utah State will then return home for two more WAC matches to end the regular season. The Aggies will take on San Jose State on Friday Oct. 28. Utah State and San Jose State tied for the regular-season title last season. USU will play its final home match of the season against Fresno State on Sunday, Oct. 30.

BIG WIN - Utah State's win against Utah on Sept. 2 was big for several reasons. It was the Aggie first win over the Utes since 1997. Also, it was only the second win against current Pac-12 win as the Aggies other two wins against Utah came when they were in other conferences. Utah State's other win against a Pac-12 team came against Arizona State in 1998.

BEATING THE BIG SKY - Utah State is currently 4-0 against the Big Sky Conference this season with wins against Weber State, Northern Colorado, Portland State and Idaho State. The Aggies defeated the Wildcats at Rio Tinto Stadium, while defeating the Bears in Greeley, Colo. USU stopped the Vikings and the Bengals in Logan.

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! - The Utah State squad has voted on a pair of captains for the 2010 season, including seniors Molli Merrill and Chandra Salmon-Christensen.

FAMILIAR FACES - There are 13 letterwinners returning for Utah State this season along with eight starters. Among the starters are two of the top three scorers from last season in senior forward Shantel Flanary and sophomore midfielder Kendra Pemberton. Senior goalkeeper Molli Merrill also returns in the net for the Aggies.

HEAD COACH Heather Cairns - In her ninth 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 eight seasons at the helm of the Aggies, Cairns has compiled a 86-74-18 (.534) record passing former head coach Stacy Enos (1996-2000) who went 26-59 (.306) in five seasons with the Aggies.

Heather Cairns has a 34-9-5 (.760) record in WAC matches, giving her the highest winning percentage among the eight league coaches in conference matches.

WAC BITS - The WAC will continue its regular-season play as a single round-robin format for a total of seven conference matches. The points system is as follows: each team will receive three points for a win and one point for a tie. The six teams with the most points at the end of the regular season will advance to the WAC Tournament which is being held Nov. 3-4 and 6, in Fresno, Calif.

AGGIES PICKED TO WIN WAC TITLE - For the third-straight season, the Utah State soccer team was picked first in the Western Athletic Conference preseason poll, selected by the conference's eight coaches and announced by the league office Monday.

The Aggies tied for first with San Jose State, and the two teams shared the 2010 WAC regular season title. This season, the WAC has eight teams with the departure of Boise State. USU and San Jose State tied for first with 42 points with both teams earning three first-place votes.

Last season's WAC Tournament champion, Fresno State, received 38 points to place third, earning two first place votes. Idaho was picked fourth with 33 points, followed by Louisiana Tech with 20 points. Nevada was chosen sixth with 18 points with Hawai`i garnering 17 points. New Mexico State, in only its third season of play, was picked eighth with 11 points.

2011 Preseason All-WAC TeamChelsea Small, Jr., F, IdahoKelsey Lord, Jr., F, San Jose StateKayla Santacruz, So., F, San Jose StateShantel Flanary, Sr., F, Utah StateJill Flockhart, Jr., MF, IdahoLauren Sanchez, Sr., MF, San Jose StateChandra Salmon-Christensen, Sr., MF, Utah StateKendall VanDine, Sr., D, Fresno StateJessica Ingram, Sr., D, San Jose StateNatalie Norris, Jr., D, Utah StateLiz Boyden, Sr., GK, Idaho
Preseason Players of the YearOffensive: Chelsea Small, Jr., F, IdahoDefensive: Jessica Ingram, Sr., D, San Jose State

Aggie Algebra

1 - Senior forward Shantel Flanary is still first in the WAC in points (20), goals (9) and game-winning goals (4).

2 - The number of game-winning goals that Kendra Pemberton has in WAC matches this season. She is tied for first in the league in game-winning goals in conference matches.

3 - When Utah State took on Weber State to open the season on Aug. 19, it was the third-straight season that the Aggies played a match at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy, Utah. USU is 3-0 with two wins against in-state rivals Weber State and a win against Utah.

4A -Utah State has four 1-0 shutouts this season against Weber State, Utah, Cal State Fullerton and Rice.

4B - States represented on the Utah State roster including the Beehive State of Utah along with Hawaii, Idaho and Illinois.

5 - The number of Aggies to record a game-winning goal this season. Shantel Flanary leads the team with four, while Kendra Pemberton is second with three. Natalie Norris has two, while both Jennifer Flynn and Mary Miyashiro both have one.

7 - The number of assists that sophomore midfielder Kendra Pemberton has had in her first 16 matches of the season to lead USU.

8 - Starters returning, which includes 2010 all-WAC honorees Shantel Flanary, Summer Tillotson, Natalie Norris and Chandra Salmon-Chirstensen.

11 - The Aggies have reached the 10-win mark for the sixth time in the last nine season as USU has 11 wins in 2011. So far this season, USU is 11-4-1. They are the first WAC team to double-digit wins.

15- The second period seems to be USU's strongest, scoring 15 goals in the second period alone. The blue and white have scored nine in the first period and one in double overtime.

24 - Players from the state of Utah on the roster.

34 - Head coach Heather Cairns' total number of WAC wins. She has a record of 34-9-5 (.760) to lead all current WAC coaches in winning percentage.

53- Saves that senior goalkeeper Molli Merrill has this season.

79 - Number of career points Flanary has in her three seasons at Utah State.

86 - Total career wins that head coach Heather Cairns has in her nine season at Utah State.

1485 - The number of minutes that Natalie Norris has played this season. She is the only Aggie to not come out of a match this season.