LOGAN, Utah — Utah State soccer (2-3-1, 0-0 MW) picked up its first draw of the 2023 campaign Sunday afternoon at Chuck and Gloria Bell Field, playing to a 0-0 tie with South Dakota.

In what was the Aggies' first shutout of the season, USU out-shot the Coyotes 26-1 while controlling a strong majority of the possession in the contest. Utah State generated eight shots on frame and earned 14 corner kicks in the match, while holding South Dakota without a single shot on goal. 

USU's 26 shots are tied for 10th-most in program history, and are the most by an Aggie team since recording 32 against Idaho State in 2018, while its 14 corner kicks are the most since taking 15 against Southern Utah in 2002. 

"We played well. Overall, we controlled the game and we had the ball most of the time," said Utah State head coach Manny Martins. "We did a lot of things really well. This is the first time that we've faced a team that put so many numbers in their box. Even though we hit the post a few times, we had some good looks. We'll learn from this one."

Utah State came out firing, taking six shots in the first 10 minutes of action, including three on target. The Aggies remained consistently aggressive, taking 15 shots in the first half and 11 in the second half. Fourteen different USU players recorded shots with eight registering multiple, led by sophomore attacker Tess Werts, who had four. 

With the clean sheet, Aggie graduate goalkeeper Diera Walton moved into a tie atop the program's all-time leaderboard for shutouts in a career. She has now held 22 opponents scoreless, and needs just one more to pass Ali Griffin (2005-08) for sole possession of the top spot. 

Utah State now travels to the Grand Canyon State for a pair of matches against Pac-12 foes next weekend, first taking on Arizona on Thursday, Sept. 7, at 5 p.m., before facing Arizona State on Sunday, Sept. 10. Both matches will be played in Tucson, Arizona, with links to live stream and 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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