LOGAN, Utah — The Utah State soccer team (2-3, 0-0 MWC) dealt South Dakota State its first loss of the season, defeating the Jackrabbits 2-1 Friday evening at Chuck and Gloria Bell Field.  

Led by a three-point performance from junior attacker Bizzy Arevalo, the Aggie offense broke out of a scoring slump with a strong outing as USU recorded 14 shots against a Jackrabbit defense that had held its four previous opponents to just 17 shots combined. South Dakota State entered the contest with an unblemished 4-0 record, having lost just one game since 2021. 

"I'm proud of our team. This is a really good opponent that only lost one game last year and it was in the postseason, and they hadn't lost a game yet this year," said Utah State head coach Manny Martins. "It was a really good defensive performance. They made some adjustments, but we adjusted as well." 

Arevalo opened the scoring charge for the Aggies with her first goal of the season and the third of her career, finding the back of the net in the ninth minute on a shot from the middle of the box, assisted by freshman midfielder Summer Diamond and senior defender Alysia Butters. 

The Logan native then beat out a defender in the 28th minute to find graduate forward Nicole Hadlock-Hardy in front of the net, who then tapped a shot by the keeper in the bottom left corner to put the Aggies up 2-0. This was Hadlock-Hardy's first goal of the year, and the third of her career as well.  

The Jackrabbits were able to get on the board late in the first half as their first shot of the match in the 44th minute found the back of the net, but the Aggies remained the aggressors throughout the remainder of the contest, going on to out-shoot SDSU 14-5. Prior to this match, the Jackrabbits averaged 16.5 shots per outing. Sophomore forward Tess Werts led the squad with three shots on the evening. 

In net for the Aggies, graduate Diera Walton played all 90 minutes, registering two saves while facing three shots.  

Utah State remains at home this weekend to host South Dakota on Sunday, Sept. 3. The match is to kick off at 1 p.m. at Chuck and Gloria Bell Field. The match will be streamed free by Mountain West Network, with links to the stream and live stats available on utahstateaggies.com. 

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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