Washington State Soccer: Cougars Fall to Utah State 1-0 in Season Opener

Washington State hosted Utah State to open the soccer season, and after a tough defensive battle it was the visiting Aggies who won out, taking a 1-0 victory out of Pullman. Washington State will start the season 0-1.

After some early back and forth the game became a duel between goalkeepers Keara Fitzgerald and Taylor Rath. Fitzgerald picked up six saves for the Cougars, while Rath tallied two for the Aggies, with the Utah State defense also keeping the front of the goal swarmed.

Midway through the second half Utah State finally began building some consistent pressure on the Cougar defense, with shots from Mia Mullenmeister and Summer Diamond forcing clutch saves from Fitzgerald. Finally, a shot form Austin Miller found the bottom left corner of the minute, giving the Aggies a 1-0 lead.

Washington State got a few more chances at the net, but couldn't get many good looks at the goal. Rebecca Skinner was the most consistent offensive threat for the Cougars, with four shots Thursday night, one of them on goal. Ava Ghoreishi got WSU there second shot on goal, one of her two shots tonight.

The Cougars now have a big break in their schedule, taking two weeks off until they travel to Moscow to take on the Idaho Vandals August 28th.