Women look to bring home wins after first weeks of conference play

This archived article was written by: Kalli Prendergast

The past two weekends, the Eagles have been searching for their mojo in the Scenic West Athletic Conference, yet the USU Eastern players can’t seem to find consistency. Playing the College of Southern Nevada- the weekend of Sept. 15- 16. Eagles tied 2-2 the first game and won 3-2 the second game.
The time had come for the women’s soccer team to play their first home game on Sept. 15th. The weather wasn’t what they had hoped it would be, as game day arrived. Rain and thunder surrounded Price and the temperature dropped to 55 degrees that Friday morning. This was vastly different from the previous three days, with each averaging 77 degrees. “It was something we hadn’t played in before, but we were just excited to play on our home field,” Said Liesl Chamberlain,
The ladies had two games on Friday and Saturday, both against Salt Lake Community College. “We knew these games were going to be tough, but we felt prepared to take on SLCC, ” said Taryn Pritchet. “All week we worked a lot on ball skill and offense.”
The weather was cold; players were bundled up, it was time to warm up their muscles. “It was first just very cold with off and on sprinkling,” said Alexus Lovato. “But as soon as we headed up to the main field, it began to hail.” The hail was very strong and so the team hovered inside for a few minutes as the storm passed.
Game time, grind time on Friday at 3 p.m., when 11 ladies stepped onto the field. Shortly into the game, the Bruins scored two goals giving them a distinguishing lead into halftime. Bruins came out quick again, sending two more goals to the back of the net. Eagles couldn’t bounce back, suffering a 4-0 loss.
The fields were very wet from the rain throughout the day. “That made the game harder to control,” said Gabrielle Sainsbury. “It also made play very dangerous.”
Sun arises on Saturday for game time. The fields were not completely dry yet, but with the sun out it brought an uplifting mood. “We wanted to get a W today,” said Taryn Pritchet. “We had a rough game on Friday, the fields weren’t what we wanted but it was time to show our coaches and fans what USUE is made of.”
The Eagles allowed three goals in the first half, and allowed none in the second half. The Eagles suffered back to back losses. The Eagles current overall record is 4-3-1 and conference record is 1-2-1.
They are traveling to Colorado this weekend to play Trinidad State Junior College on Thursday, and Otero Junior College on Sept. 23. “These games were looking for some momentum to go forward in conference,” said Kaitlyn Sisler