If there was any doubt before, there no longer is: the 19th-ranked Aggies are the team to beat in the Pac-12 after a 2-1 home win over No. 22 Texas State.
Samantha Sellers and Kei Yoneda each scored in the first half, and Ivy Nystrom made one save in 90 minutes in goal to help preserve the win in the first ranked-on-ranked matchup in the history of Chuck and Gloria Bell Field in Logan.
The win also fully established Utah State (8-2—2, 1-0 Pac-12) as the leading team in the newly formed Pac-12. Just two days after the Aggies were announced as the host of the inaugural four-team Pac-12 women’s soccer championship tournament Nov. 11-14 in Logan, Utah State improved to 5-0-2 at home with its fifth-ever win over a nationally ranked program and second this season.
The Aggies poured in the fifth-most shot attempts in program history with 33, and held the Bobcats (7-2-2, 0-1 Pac-12) to just four shots.
“This Texas State team showed throughout the preseason that they are the real deal. They are really good,” USU coach Manny Martins said after the match. “Great players, athletic, a lot of different pieces; I’m proud of our performance, especially in the first half where I felt like we suffocated them.
“We created some really good chances. But I knew that they weren’t going to go away … We knew we were going to have to come out and put together a good second half. We were able to close out the game, but not without giving them a moment. That’s how good they are.”
Utah State will hit the road Sunday to continue Pac-12 play at Colorado State (12 p.m. MT, Pac-12 YouTube) before returning home to host Washington State next Thursday, Oct. 8 at 3 p.m. MT.
In other results around the Beehive State, particularly as Big Sky play gets underway:
Ella Rusick had a goal and an assist, and Ella Weathers scored the match-winner in the 61st minute as Utah Tech won its first conference game in the Trailblazers’ first year in the Big Sky, 2-1 over Portland State on Thursday night in St. George.
Southern Utah opened Big Sky play with a 1-0 loss Thursday to defending champion Montana in Cedar City.
Further north, Bonnie Buswell’s 86th minute goal helped Weber State equalize for a 1-1 draw with Idaho in the Wildcats’ Big Sky opener in Moscow, Idaho.
