Courtesy of Utah State Athletics

SAN DIEGO – No. 25 Utah State soccer (17-1-4, 7-1-3 MW) secured its spot in the Mountain West title game with a 2-0 win in the semifinal round over 3-seed Colorado State Wednesday evening at the SDSU SportsDeck. The Aggies will now move on to the championship match for the second-straight year, where they will face the winner of 1-seed Boise State and 4-seed San Diego State on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. (MT).

After a quiet start to the match from both sides, Utah State jumped on top in the 40th minute when a crossover by freshman forward Ellie Hendrix cleared the path of a pair of Ram defenders for a left-footed laser past the keeper. While the Aggies were held without a shot for the first 33 minutes, they finished the first half with seven.

In the 83rd minute, the Aggies tacked on an insurance goal when a takeaway near midfield by sophomore forward Kate Christian turned into a transition opportunity. Hendrix found fellow freshman forward Mia Mullenmeister, who put the ball in front of the net to Christian who made it 2-0.

In total, Utah State out-shot the Rams 21-2 including a 14-1 advantage in the second half.

SCORING SUMMARY
39:55 – Ellie Hendrix (USU)
Assist: Austin Miller
82:55 – Kate Christian (USU)
Assists: Ellie Hendrix, Mia Mullenmeister

UTAH STATE HEAD COACH MANNY MARTINS
“This is a very good team we played against. They’re very well-organized and well-coached, and they did a fantastic job. They played with a tremendous spirit, but we stayed resilient. I thought we controlled the game and the tempo. They had one shot 30 minutes in and we had zero, but I think we wore them down a little bit and as the game went on we started to find our rhythm. When our game-changers, our young players came in, they really flipped the game upside down.”

MATCH NOTES

  • With the win, Utah State advances to the Mountain West Tournament title game for the second-straight year.
  • This is just the second time in program history Utah State has advanced to the Mountain West Tournament title match.
  • Should Utah State win the championship match, it will earn an automatic bid to what would be the fourth NCAA Tournament in program history.
  • After not having a single shot through 33 minutes, Utah State finished the match with 21, including 11 shots on goal. Colorado State was held to just two, with one on goal.
  • Six of Utah State’s past seven opponents have had five or fewer shots.
  • Ellie Hendrix’s goal was the third of both her season and career.
  • Kate Christian’s goal was her seventh of the season and the ninth of her career.
  • Graduate keeper Cora Brendle played all 90 minutes in goal for Utah State, logging one save in the shutout.
  • Brendle now has 10 saves, tied for second-most in a single season in program history. She needs just one more to match Molli Merril’s record of 11 in 2011.
  • With the win, Utah State is now 6-4-2 all-time in MW Tournament matches.
  • With the win, Utah State improves to 10-4-2 all-time against Colorado State, including 3-0-0 in postseason matches.
  • Utah State is undefeated against Colorado State in past eight meetings

UP NEXT
Utah State (17-1-4, 7-1-3 MW) will play for a Mountain West Tournament championship this weekend, as it plays the winner of 1-seed Boise State and 4-seed San Diego State on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. (MT), in San Diego.