LOGAN, Utah - Utah State soccer has been projected to qualify for the Mountain West Tournament as the league's coaches have picked the Aggies fifth in the annual preseason coaches poll. USU tied for third last season, finishing with a mark of 5-4-2 in league play and advancing to the semifinals of the conference tournament.
New Mexico, the 2021 league and tournament champion, was selected first by the coaches with 11 first-place votes and 121 points. The Lobos were followed by San Diego State (100) and Boise State (99), as the Broncos picked up the only other first-place vote. Fresno State was just ahead of the Aggies in fourth with 96 points, while Utah State garnered 82 points. UNLV (63), Colorado State (57) and San José State (48) were picked sixth through eighth, while Nevada and Wyoming tied for ninth with 34 points apiece. Colorado College and Air Force rounded out the poll with 32 and 26 points, respectively.
Utah State enters the season with one of the most established back lines in the Mountain West with junior Kelsey Kaufusi and sophomore Addy Symonds. The center backs appeared and started in each of the Aggies' 22 matches a season ago, with Kaufusi earning all-Mountain West Tournament Team honors, to go along with second-team all-region accolades. Symonds was named to the MW all-Newcomer Team and one of the top 100 freshman in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer.
They will be standing in front of all-conference keeper Diera Walton, entering her senior year on the cusp of breaking several school records between the posts. Walton is third all-time in career shutouts (17) and career goals-against average (0.90), fourth in career saves (238) and fifth in career minutes in goal (4,701). She is on track to break three of those records, needing five more shutouts to tie that category, just over 1,000 minutes to break that records and 35 saves to tie that mark.
In the midfield, Utah State returns both of its holding middies from a season ago in juniors Alex Day and Alysia Butters. Day appeared in each of the Aggies' 22 matches last year, starting in 20, while Butters also played in each match with three starts. Between the two, the pair racked up close to 2,500 minutes on the pitch.
In the attacking third, Utah State returns seniors Sara Taylor and Sammie Murdock, the top-two returning point leaders for the Aggies. Taylor showed her balance on the wing with six goals and five assists, finishing second on the team with 17 points, while Murdock logged 13 points behind six goals and one assist.
Utah State returns nine more letterwinners from 2022, along with two returning redshirts and 10 newcomers. Within that mix of newcomers include returners Christiane Sundstrom, a senior forward who played two years for Utah State before transferring to CSUN, and sophomore midfielder Sid Barlow, who played for the Aggies during the 2019 season, scoring three goals and appearing in 1,233 minutes. Barlow recently returned from a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Fans can follow the Aggie soccer program on Twitter, @USUSoccer, on Facebook at /USUSoccer and on Instagram, @USUSoccer. Aggie fans can also follow the Utah State athletic program on Twitter, @USUAthletics, Facebook at /USUAthletics and on Instagram, @USUAthletics.
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