The USU women’s soccer team ended their record three-game losing streak Friday afternoon on the road against Boise State, turning the tables on the Broncos and blanking them, 1-0.

The lone goal of the match was scored in the 67th minute. Shantel Flanary chased a ball deep into the Bronco zone and put the ball off the defender to earn USU a corner kick. Lindsey Smart came up, took the corner kick and connected with Natalie Norris, the high-flying Aggie defender. Norris solidly put her head on the ball and sent it into the back of the net.

“We send Nano (Norris) in on corner kicks because she’s very good in the air,” coach Heather Cairns said of her freshman defender.

“It was so good,” USU defensive midfielder Chandra Salmon said of Norris’s goal. “I think we all kind of felt it too. She was talking about it before the game. She really wanted to score. A couple of the girls on the bench were saying they knew she was going to score. She’s really good in the air, and she was completely focused.”

The match was not easily won. Cairns said both sides were extremely determined to win the match. Both teams only were able to get off four shots in the first half. Both teams had trouble getting any sort of offensive momentum going, but USU did a good job of getting a few different players involved. Not only Lauren Hansen, the USU forward from Washington State, managed to get a shot off but also Rachel Feuz, the freshman defensive midfielder got in on the action, putting a shot on goal as well. Cairns said goals and shots were difficult to get in this match.

“The first half was pretty uneventful. I can’t say either of the teams really had great opportunities,” Cairns said. “Goal scoring is the hardest part of soccer. Sometimes you get in a funk and the ball doesn’t bounce your way, and you have to be resilient.”

Cairns said both teams came out ready to fight in the second half. USU struck first, and then Boise State really bore down and tried desperately to work USU’s offense. The effort showed. Boise outshot USU 10-3 in the second half and nearly converted on a few shaky plays.

For instance, Cairns said Boise’s Shannon Saxton, the Broncos’ All-WAC forward, just narrowly missed a golden opportunity thanks to the brilliant play of Allie Maduell.

“Allie disposessed Shannon Saxton on the cross. She would have buried it, and Allie dispossessed her. That was amazing,” Cairns said.

– la.hem@aggiemail.usu.edu

“They broke through on the right side and played a ball in to the box. Allie Maduell was marking Saxton, their all-WAC forward, and just beat Saxton to the ball. She just battled to not let Saxton have the ball. Saxton is a physical scorer, and if she had gotten that ball, it could have been a tied game.”

The game did not end tied. USU never buckled, and the Aggie soccer team came away in part one of its Gem State road trip with three more points to its credit. Salmon said the win was particularly satisfying.

“Oh my goodness, it’s amazing,” Salmon said. “The last three games haven’t even been at home. We consider them our rivals and they definitely consider us theirs. Both of us have a little pride when we play together. We played them in the first round of the WAC tournament last year and beat them out, so we beat them both times we face them last year. We knew they were coming out for us today.”

Cairns gave her team a lot of credit for this win. She said she was proud of the effort her team showed in being able to get the win on the road.

“To get three points in the WAC standings and to get them on the road, that’s a big accomplishment. It’s a real important accomplishment as well,” Cairns said.