With a young team coming off a 3-13-3 the Creighton women’s soccer team had more questions than answers as they prepared for the 2013 season. Those questions weren’t expected to be answered after one game, either, but the reality was still a tough pill to swallow for a group of individuals that is used to winning when it steps on the soccer field.
The Bluejays fell behind 2-0 very quickly in their season opener at Utah State. Goals by Aggie forward Lauren Roundy in the 6th minute and midfielder Kylie Dibb in the 14th made it an uphill battle for Creighton. The Aggies added another goal in the 33rd minute off the foot of true freshman Jessica Brooksby as it was a first half to forget for Creighton new keeper, true freshman Danielle Rice.
Rice made four saves in her collegiate debut, but her Aggie counterpart Jeannie Woller didn’t allow the Creighton attack to chip away at the lead. The Utah State sophomore stopped seven shots, some with a high degree of difficulty, and seal the 3-0 victory for her squad. After Woller allowed just two goals all of a last season, good for a 0.46 GAA, Bluejay head coach Bruce Erickson and his staff knew it was going to take a great effort to come out of Logan, Utah, with a result.
Senior center back Kelsey O’Donnell led the Jays with five shots on the day, but Utah State kept the Jays main attacker, Lauren Cingoranelli, in check throughout the game, not allowing her to get a shot off after she led the team with four goals in the preseason. The positive to take away from this game is that the Jays outshot a very good Aggie club 14-13. They’ll need to keep that aggressiveness while they tighten up the defensive side of things in their one day off before taking on Boise State on Sunday afternoon.
Kick off is set for 1 p.m. Central Standard Time at the Boas Tennis and Soccer Complex in Boise, Idaho.