Aug. 28, 2008

LOGAN, Utah -

Complete Soccer Notes in PDF Format

ON THE PITCH - This week, the Aggies will travel to the Beaver State to take on Oregon on Aug. 29 and Oregon State on Aug. 31. Utah State is 0-1 on the road this season with its season-opening loss to border-rival Idaho State, 1-0, on Aug. 22. Oregon put a scare into No. 6 Portland when Jessica Goodell scored with six minutes left in the game Saturday night, cutting the Pilots' lead to 2-1. But Portland's Rachael Rapinoe scored just :26 seconds later to finally put away the pesky Ducks 3-1 in the season opener for both teams before a sell-out crowd of 4,892 at Merlo Field. Oregon State opened the 2008 season with a 2-1 victory over in-state rival Portland State in action at Paul Lorenz Field on Aug. 22. With the victory, Oregon State improved to 1-0-0. Oregon State jumped out to an early one-goal lead on a perfectly executed give-and-go from Courtney Wetzel and Melissa Peck. After Peck passed the ball to Wetzel, the junior midfielder made a run at the goal. Wetzel hit her in stride as Peck found the back-right corner of the net in the 28th minute to give the Beavers the lead. The Beavers will face Boston College before facing the Aggies on Aug. 31. The 13th season of Utah State soccer began with the Aggies going 1-1 its first week. The program holds an overall record of 86-126-13. Last year, the Aggies were 10-11, which was the second-straight season they had won at least 10 matches.

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.

GETTING OFFENSIVE - Senior goalkeeper Ali Griffin got in on the scoring in the Aggies 2-1 win over Seattle with her first collegiate assist. Griffin punted the ball to the center circle and freshman forward Shantel Flanary did the rest. The Highland, Utah native, showed some fancy moves and scored her first collegiate goal that ended up as the game winner. Griffin scored her first point in her college career with the assist.

LOOKING AHEAD - If there is one theme to the 2008 season it is that the Aggies will be wracking up the frequent flier miles, playing only 10 home matches. USU's schedule includes two teams that played in last season's NCAA Tournament in Brigham Young and WAC foe and defending league champion Hawai'i. The Aggies face three of the top five Mountain West Conference teams from last season in BYU, Utah and Wyoming, while Long Beach State and Cal Poly were two of the top three teams in the Big West Conference, and both UTEP and Texas-San Antonio were third-place finishers in their respective conferences. BYU is the only team on USU's schedule that was ranked in the final NSCAA/adidas top 25 poll last season, with the Cougars being ranked No. 25, but Long Beach State was among others in receiving votes.

WAC PRESEASON POLL - For the second-straight season Utah State was tabbed third in the Preseason WAC Coaches' Poll, as the Aggies garnered 37 points. Junior defender Lindsey Smart was named to the Preseason all-WAC soccer team and was WAC Preseason co-Defensive Player of the Year also for the second consecutive year.

SLOW START - The WAC is off to a slow start this soccer season. Utah State is one of only two teams along with Boise State to capture a win this season. Overall the WAC is 3-9 to start the 2008 season.

BACK FOR MORE - Utah State returns seven starters and 16 letterwinners from last season's squad that posted a 10-11 record. The Aggies return three all-WAC selections in junior defender Lindsey Smart (first-team), senior forward Candice Clark (second-team) and sophomore forward Lauren Hansen (second-team). In Clark and Hansen, the Aggies return 16 of the 40 goals they scored last season. Senior goalkeeper Ali Griffin, who holds the USU record for career goals against average (0.95), also returns for the Aggies this season.

THE NEW CREW - Head coach Heather Cairns welcomes 11 newcomers to the lineup, including 10 freshmen and one transfer. Several of the newcomers will make an immediate impact on Aggie soccer. Forward Shantel Flanary comes to Utah State after scoring 87 goals in high school and losing only one match. She is an ultra-competative striker who looks to make an immediate impact. Andrea Seledee is a transfer from Texas State, who finished the 2007 season second on the team with two goals and three assists. Alexis Venable is a versatile defender who will be vying for playing time this season. The Layton, Utah native looks to become part of a very tough defensive corps. Chandra Salmon will be in the mix at the center midfielder position. Another newcomer is goalkeeper Molli Merrill a freshman from Bountiful, Utah, giving Cairns and Utah State depth on both sides of the ball.

THE COACH - Entering her sixth 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 five plus seasons at the helm of the Aggies, Cairns has compiled a 44-47-9 (.485) record passing former head coach Stacy Enos (1996-2000) who went 26-59 (.306) in five seasons with the Aggies. Cairns' teams have also recorded a school record 36 shutouts in the last five seasons. USU recorded a total of just 16 shutouts in the six years prior to Cairns' appointment as head coach.

SERIES HISTORY - This will be the second meeting between Utah State and Oregon with the Ducks leading the series 1-0. In 2007, Oregon topped the Aggies, 2-1 in Logan. Senior Abby Hunt scored USU's only goal. Oregon State and Utah State will be meeting for the first time when the teams collide in Corvallis on Aug. 31.

UP NEXT - After the trip to the Beaver State, the Aggies return home for a pair of matches. On Sept. 4 the Aggies host Texas State. The Aggies won the only meeting with the Bobcats, defeating them, 1-0 in the first match of the 2007 season. On Sept. 6, USU will host Northern Colorado out of the Big Sky Conference. The Aggies are also 1-0 against the Bears. Utah State topped UNC, 2-0, in Boise in 2003.

WAC INFORMATION - The WAC will continue its regular-season play as a single round-robin format (plus a points system) for a total of seven conference matches. The points system allows each team to 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 will be held Nov. 6-7, 9 in Reno, Nevada.

EVERYTHING BUT THE GOAL - Sophomore sensation Lauren Hansen did everything last week but score. Hansen had 10 shots, two on goal in the Aggies first two matches. She may have not scored, but she did keep defenders occupied, allowing both Erin Salmon and Shantel Flanary to find the back of the net with their first goals of the season.

2008 WAC TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE

November 6 (Quarterfinals) Match 1 - No. 3 vs. No. 6, 3:00 p.m. Match 2 - No. 4 vs. No. 5, 5:30 p.m.

November 7 (Semifinals) Match 3 - No. 1 vs. Winner Match 1, 3:00 p.m. Match 4 - No. 2 vs. Winner Match 2, 5:30 p.m.

November 9 (Championship) Match 5 - Winner Match 3 vs. Winner Match 4, 1:00 p.m.

WAC BITS - The WAC returns 15 all-conference players for the 2008 season. Hawai`i leads the way with six returning all-WAC members, including last year's WAC Offensive Player of the Year, Ambree Ako, and Co-Defensive Player of the Year, Tehane Higa. First-teamers Ako, Higa, Taryn Fukuroku and Nicole Mikula, along with second-teamers Chelsea Deptula and Kori Lu return for the Rainbow Wahine. Fresno State welcomes back two first-teamers and two from the all-WAC second-team. The Bulldogs return both Alison Sill and Kaity Reven from last year's first-team, along with Nicole Gutierrez and Selena Gill from the second-team. Utah State returns all-WAC first-team defender Lindsey Smart for her junior season. The Aggies also return a pair of second-team selections from last season in Candice Clark and Lauren Hansen. Boise State returns last year's WAC Freshman of the Year Shannon Saxton, who also earned first-team all-WAC honors last season. Nevada welcomes back second-team all-WAC defender Patrice Goodwin for her senior year.

State facts - There are no Aggies from Oregon where USU heads next. Utah State will then host Texas State and Northern Colorado. There are also no Aggies from Texas, but transfer Andrea Seledee did play two season for the Bobcats before transferring to Utah State. There is one Aggie from the Centennial State, Colorado. Ironically enough, Alex Marsh hails from Centennial, Colo., just outside of Denver.

LOOKING BACK AT 2007 REWIND - Last season was the second-straight that the Aggies have won 10 matches which ties the school record for most-ever wins. For the second-straight year, the Aggies won at least five conference matches, posting a 5-2 WAC record. Five wins is a school record, topping the previous program-record marks of four conference wins, done four times, most recently in 2005. Utah State was the fourth-seed for the WAC Tournament and earned its first-ever conference tournament victory, defeating fifth-seeded San Jose State, 4-0, in the quarterfinals. The Aggies then lost to top-seeded Hawai'i, 1-0, in double overtime in the semifinals, as Hawai'i went on to win the conference championship and advance to the NCAA Tournament. It marked the third year in a row that Utah State has been eliminated by the eventual tournament champion. In 2005, the Aggies lost to Fresno State who went on to claim the title, while USU fell to Nevada, who won the title in 2006.

HANSEN'S HOT CAREER START - Forward Lauren Hansen made her mark in the record books after one season with the Aggies. Hansen scored three goals in the match against Louisiana Tech which ties for the most goals in a match that was last done in 2004 by Nicole (Feuz) Gooch at Idaho. She finished in fifth for goals in a season (10) and is currently tied for ninth with Emily Sutherland (1996-99) for goals in a career. Hansen also finished fifth for points in a season with 20 and tied for fourth for points in a match (six) done five other times by three Aggies, last by Nicole (Feuz) Gooch in 2004 against Idaho.

Aggie Algebra

1 - The total number of collegiate assists that goalkeeper Ali Griffin now has after assist of Shantel Flanary's first goal in the win against Seattle on Aug. 24.

2 - USU opponents on the 2008 schedule that played in last year's NCAA Tournament, including BYU and Hawai`i.

3 - The number of returning Aggies named to the all-WAC team last season (Griffin, Lauren Hansen, Candice Clark).

5 - The number of different players who registered at least one point last week (Shantel Flanary, Erin Salmon and Lindsey Smart all had two points, while Griffin and Heather Pond had one.)

6 - Different states that players on the roster are from: California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Washington.

7 - Starters returning, which includes 2007 all-WAC honorees Lindsey Smart, Lauren Hansen and Candice Clark.

8 - Number of career assists junior Lindsey Smart has... She is only five away from breaking USU great Charity Weston's record of 12.

9 - The number of brothers and sisters Aggie freshman Shantel Flanary has.

10 - The number of freshmen the young Aggie team has on the roster this season.

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

23 - Total number of career points senior Candice Clark has which ties her for 10th on the all-time Aggie list with Chanel (Blaquiere) Weddle.

75 - Number of saves goalkeeper Ali Griffin recorded last season... She is now fourth on the all-time saves list with 163.

3,695 - Career minutes Griffin has as goalkeeper to rank second on the career minutes list behind Megan Mills (2001-04) who logged 5,196 minutes.