Sept. 15, 2008

Logan, Utah - ON THE PITCH-After going 1-1 last week with a tough loss to in-state rival Utah and a come-from-behind win against UTEP, the Aggies remain at home to take on UT-San Antonio and Long Beach State. This season, USU is 3-0-1 at Chuck and Gloria Bell Field. UT-San Antonio lost 3-0 at Baylor on Sunday in non-conference action at Betty Lou Mays Soccer Field. The Roadrunners (3-4) had two opportunities in the first frame to get on the board. However, junior Celeste Carruth's shot sailed over the crossbar at the 14-minute mark. UTSA's second attempt came off junior Ezinne Okpo foot, but her shot was high midway through the stanza. UTSA concludes its five-match road trip next week as they head to Utah for a pair of matches at Utah State on Thursday, Sept. 18 and at Southern Utah two days later. Long Beach State (4-1-2) and Oregon played to a 3-3 double overtime tie on Sunday afternoon in a physical, back and forth affair that saw LBSU tie it in the 88th minute. Kim Silos tied the contest in the 88th minute when she fought through traffic and scored from 30 yards out to make it 3-3. Oregon had taken a 3-2 lead in the 53rd minute when Jessica Goodell lasered a cross from Allison Newton to give the Ducks an early second half advantage. The 49ers outshot the Ducks. 20-10, including six overtime shots, and took nine corner kicks. This is the first meeting between the Aggies and the Roadrunners, while the 49ers hold a 6-2 series edge over the Aggies. The first time that the teams met was in 1998 when Utah State defeated Long Beach State, 3-1, in Logan. The last time the teams met was in 2006 when Long Beach State won, 2-0, in the City by the Bay Classic in San Francisco.

SPREADING THE WEALTH-The Aggies have had several players involved in scoring this season. Only three players have scored at least two goals, Lauren Hansen (3), Shantel Flanary (2) and Erin Salmon (2). There are no Utah State players that have more than one assist, but six different players have earned an assist.

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.

FIRST TIME -Freshman goalkeeper Molli Merrill made her first collegiate start against UTEP on Sept. 14. The Bountiful, Utah, native had played 90 minutes total prior to her start against the Miners. Merrill played the second half in both the Oregon and Oregon State matches. After allowing a early first-half goal, Merrill settled down not allowing a goal the rest of the match. Merrill has seven saves and an 0.50 goals against average.

MOVING UP THE CHARTS-With the Aggies strong performance last week, several Utah State players moved up the career charts. With a goal and an assist, forward Lauren Hansen moved into seventh all time in points scored with 27. Hansen is sixth in goals scored with 13, while Clark is tied for 10th with 10 goals scored. Junior defender Lindsey Smart is fourth in assists with nine. Senior goalkeeper Ali Griffin remains the Aggie leader in goals against average with a 0.99 GAA. Griffin is also still first in shutout with 17 after two shutouts this season.

AGGIE INFORMATION-Freshman forward Marissa Sanchez returned to action after missing five matches with an injury... Sophomore Lauren Hansen leads the team in points scored with seven off of three goals and one assist... Freshman midfielder Chandra Salmon earned her first collegiate point with an assist in the win against UTEP... Senior forward Candice Clark returned from injury with her first goal of the season in the win against Northern Colorado...Aggie goalkeepers Molli Merrill and Ali Griffin have allowed only nine goals this season...Freshman defender Summer Tillotson made her first two collegiate starts...Her brother was a member of the Utah State football team, while her dad played football for the Aggies...In the win against Northern Colorado four different Aggies earned at least one point with Flanary, Clark and Lauren Hansen scoring goals and Flanary and Lindsey Smart adding assists.

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.

BABY AGGIES -The young Aggie are having an immediate impact this season. Freshman forward Shantel Flanary has led the way with two goals and an assist. Flanary assisted in the game-winning goal against Northern Colorado on Sept. 6. Midfielder Chandra Salmon has started seven of eight matches for USU this season. Newcomer Summer Tillotson started the last two matches for the Aggies in the back. Both Allie Maduell and Brittney Boyack have played in seven of USU's eight matches.

SLOW START-The WAC is off to a slow start this soccer season. With San Jose State earning an overtime win on Sunday, Nevada is the only team in the WAC without a win. Only Louisiana Tech has more wins than Utah State with a 4-1 record. The Aggies' WAC opponents have a 12-23-6 record so far this season.

FISHY SITUATION-Things are getting awfully fishy for the Aggies. Junior Erin Salmon scored the first goal of the season for Utah State off the dish from sophomore Heather Pond. To add to the underwater element, freshman midfielder Chandra Salmon has now started five of the Aggies first seven matches. Both Salmon's had a fin so to speak in the Aggies, 2-1, win over UTEP. Erin Salmon scored the game-winning goal for her second goal of the season. Chandra Salmon had her first collegiate assist with her pass to Lauren Hansen to tie the score 1-1.

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 46-50-10 (.481) 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.

CLOSE CALLS-The Aggies may sport a 3-4-1 record this season, but Utah State has been in every single match. Three of the Aggies four losses have come by only one goal (L, 1-2 vs. Idaho State; L, 0-1 Oregon; L, 1-2 Oregon State).

FRIENDLY CONFINES- Utah State clearly enjoys playing at the friendly confines of Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field. This season, the Aggies are 3-0-1 playing at home. Of the nine goals the Aggies have scored this year, six have come at home. In three of the four Aggie home matches, USU has scored at least two goals. The Aggies have six home matches remaining this season.

WACTASTIC-Utah State will play 11 teams this season who are currently or have been members of the Western Athletic Conference. Utah, Wyoming and BYU were members of the WAC through 1998. UTEP was a WAC school through the 2004-05 school year. USU will also take on the seven WAC schools that sponsor women's soccer (Boise State, Fresno State, Hawai`i, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, Nevada and San Jose State). So far this season, the Aggies are 1-1 against former or current WAC teams with a win over UTEP and a loss to Utah.

UP NEXT-After home matches this week with UT-San Antonio and Long Beach State, the Aggies hit the road for their final non-conference road trip of 2008. On Sept. 26, USU will take on Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. On Sept. 28, the Aggies will be a little closer to home facing the Cowgirls of Wyoming on Sept. 28. On Oct. 2, Utah State will host its final non-conference match when it faces in-state rival BYU at Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field.

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.

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.

Aggie Algebra

1-The total number of collegiate assists that goalkeeper Ali Griffin now has after assisting on 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 starters to have played in every match (Lindsey Smart, Stefani Shiozaki, Sydne Porter, Alyssa Lowry and Jessie Malaska).

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-The number of Aggies that have scored a point this season, including Hansen's three goals.

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.

24-The total number of points that the Aggies have scored this season off of nine goals and six assists.

25-Total number of career points by senior Candice Clark which makes her 10th on the all-time Aggie list. She is one point from ninth which is held by Charlsie Harris (2002-06).

105-Number of shots the Aggies have both shot and allowed.

34- The number of both first and second half shots that the Aggies have fired in 2008.

4,273-Career minutes Griffin has as goalkeeper to rank second on the career minutes list behind Megan Mills (2001-04) who logged 5,196 minutes.