Former SV player helps Aggies down Blue Jays

LOGAN – Utah State’s first official win as a member of the Mountain West Conference belongs to the women’s soccer team.

Fueled by a strong defensive showing, the Aggies cruised to a 3-0 win over the Creighton Blue Jays on Friday at Chuck and Gloria Bell field.

“That was one of our goals today,” USU head coach Heather Cairns said. “Definitely pleased with our performance, pleased with the result. Pretty good start to the season.”

USU struck early and often in the first half.

Freshman midfielder Jayne Robison connected with junior forward Lauren Roundy on a long pass behind the Blue Jays defense, and Roundy rifled a shot past Creighton goalkeeper Danielle Rice to give the Aggies a 1-0 lead just five minutes into the match.

Utah State added another goal just eight minutes later when Roundy forced Rice into a mistake outside the 18-yard-box, allowing junior midfielder Kylie Dibb a simple shot on an empty net and a 2-0 lead.

Freshman midfielder and former Sky View standout Jessica Brooksby also got in on the scoring, notching her first career college goal on her first career shot on an assist from senior defender Brooke Larsen-Leavitt in the 33rd minute.

“It feels amazing, it’s really a dream come true for me,” Brooksby said. “Brooke played a great ball in, we’ve practiced those a lot and I was able to get on the end of it. I was really excited.”

But despite the show on offense, sophomore goalkeeper Jeannie Woller stole the spotlight with her performance in the net.

Woller denied an opportunistic Blue Jay squad time and time again throughout the match en route to seven saves. Early in the second half, Woller corralled a shot from Creighton’s Lauren Sullivan with a diving one-handed save to keep the Blue Jays off the board.

It was one of impressive saves Woller made in the match, which she said pumped her and the rest of the team up.

“It’s soccer, it’s what I do, it’s what we all do,” Woller said. “I love it, I live for it. Saving a ball like that, there’s no rush like it. And with my team playing the way they were, it’s just a perfect day. Rainy and everything, just perfect.”

Creighton out-shot USU in the match, finishing with 14 shots to Utah State’s 13, but the Aggies found the back of the net with three of their first four shots of the match.

It was the second meeting between the teams in a year, as the teams battled to a 1-1 tie in Omaha, Neb. almost a year ago to the day. The meeting was also the second time Coach Cairns faced her former team as coach of the Aggies after spending four seasons as an assistant coach for the Blue Jays from 1999-2002.

The Aggies improved to 1-0-0 with the win, and return to Chuck and Gloria Bell field on Monday, August 26 when they host in-state rival Utah Valley University. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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