Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Looking Back...Reflections of Lindsey Smart

Utah State Hey Aggies all the way, Go Aggies, Go Aggies, Hey Hey Hey! I remember my die-hard Aggie dad chanting this cheer to me in high school when he told me to consider Utah State University for soccer. At first, I wasn’t too interested in cold, little Logan, but looking back on my years as an Aggie I would not trade my experience here for anything.

Of course there were a lot of rough times; like the hard running days……..the practice this past preseason on the HPER field definitely comes to mind (everyone knows which one I am talking about!). Or the practice after Bear Lake when we were doing a lot of 120s and Lo and Syd decided to use one of their free 120s and got yelled at, ha ha I will never forget that. There have also been very frustrating times with injuries, especially when my calves were bad. However, all these hard times made the good times even better and made it all worth it. Having wonderful teammates helped everyone push through the hard times.

I will miss going on road trips with the girls, eating double the amount of calories than we burned, juggling dessert competitions, Goalie wars……sorry coach I mean 2 vs. 2 competitive shooting (Though I will not miss Lo and Mollie kicking the ball as hard as they possible could). I will miss the pillow fightsJ, laughing uncontrollably in the back of the bus with the fantastic five, playing tricks on Lo, and a bunch of other memories that are too numerous to list. The thing I will miss the most is definitely just playing soccer at a high competitive level and fighting for each other on the field while working towards a common goal. Not to mention having fun and kicking butt, while doing it! Two of the best memories that come to mind were winning the WAC conference last year and going undefeated, and beating UTAH at Rio Tinto stadium. Playing on that field in front of so many fans was unreal and one of the funnest games I have ever been apart of!

Looking back at my first collegiate soccer game as a freshman compared to where I am now, I cannot believe how fast it flew by. Though the wins and losses will be forgotten, the friendships I have made, the things I have accomplished, and the countless memories will last forever! Thanks to all my teammates who made it so much fun and worked so hard, the coaches for giving up their personal lives to do so much for us and USU soccer, and trainers (Hillary you are the best). You all made the experience so awesome! I love you!!! GO AGGIES!!

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Reflections.....of a Senior: Erin Salmon


Soccer has been my entire life and I am so grateful for the opportunity that I had to play at a college level. Not only did I get to play at a college level but I got to play at Utah State University. I don’t even know where to start with the memories and experiences I have had in my last four years, there are so many!

The first memory that comes to mind that I will never be able to forget was freshman year when I made the entire team run. First I got screamed at by coach and then after that I got yelled at by the scariest senior on the team. I have never felt so stupid in my entire life but I am happy to say that after my four years I am not the only freshman that this happened to.

My two favorite memories would have to be obviously winning the WAC Jr. Year and also senior year playing at Rio Tinto and beating Utah!! We seniors have always wanted to beat Utah and it was such a great feeling and opportunity to beat Utah our senior year and playing at Rio Tinto made it that much better!! Winning the WAC was such a great experience the whole entire season was a blast I enjoyed it every step of the way!

The only year I forgot to write about was sophomore year and how could I forget this year because this is the year that brought so much joy and laughter to my life…can anyone guess why? ……. Hello!!!! I got to meet Lo and Shio!! I am sure every girl that plays on this team while these two girls are here will have so many great fun memories to talk about for the rest of their lives. Thanks Lo and Shio I love you guys!!

I could go on forever about memories and experiences but it would be a novel. I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had here at Utah State to play soccer. The girls that have come and gone on this team will be my friends for life! I love all of them and will never forget them. I had the amazing opportunity to come into this experience with two of my best friends and it couldn’t have been a better ending then to be able to end it with them. I am grateful for the coaches and all they have done for me. They were very patient with me because I had to come back from so many injuries and I am so grateful that they didn’t give up on me. I am sad to say it is over but I will never forget my experience playing Utah State Aggie Soccer!!!! GO AGGIES!!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!

P.S. Yes everyone I did love the free food..... J

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

WAC Tourney

Last week, the Aggies traveled to the WAC tournament in Boise, Idaho. The tournament kicked off Wednesday night by a banquet honoring seniors and award winners throughout the conference. Our girls were a good looking group and represented Utah State well as three Aggies, Lauren Hansen, Summer Tillotson and Chandra Salmon were recognized for earning Athlete of the Week during the season; three more Aggies, Chandra Salmon, Lindsey Smart and Shantel Flanary, earned 1st Team All-WAC honors; and last but not least, Shantel Flanary was honored as the Offensive Player of the Year! Because we finished 2nd in the WAC, we earned a bye for the first round of the tournament. We played Boise State on Friday in wet, cold conditions, and lost in a close 1-0 game. The Aggies were represented well again in post-tournament honors with Sophomores Molli Merrill and Shantel Flanary being named to the WAC All-Tournament team. Congratulations to the coaches and players of the 2009 Utah State Soccer Team for a successful season! Stay tuned for reflections from the season from your Aggies!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

ALL-WAC Team!!!!

Congratulations to three Utah State soccer players for earning 1st Team All-WAC, and to Shantel Flanary for being named WAC Offensive Player of the year!
















Shantel Flanary-Forward









Lindsey Smart-Defender









Chandra Salmon-Midfielder

Big Weekend for Aggies!

Here are some pics from this past weekend!




Seniors Sydne Garner, Erin Salmon and Lindsey Smart with their parents




Team before NMSU game!










WAHOO! Aggies place 2nd in the WAC! Now it's off to Boise!!!









Parent/Senior Appreciation Weekend



Halloween--see the girls dressed up for Halloween..eeek!

Sunday, November 1, 2009

WE'RE GOING TO BOISE!

Busy and exciting weekend for the Aggies! Detailed posts coming soon! We went 2-0 this weekend beating Louisiana Tech on Friday 2-1, qualifying us for the WAC tournament, and today, we beat New Mexico State 3-0 to secure a 2nd place finish in the WAC and earn the 10th win of the season! Conference tournament will be held in Boise next week. The Aggies earned a first round bye and will be playing on Friday. We also appreciated our parents (formally), celebrated Halloween, and honored our seniors! Again...a more detailed post coming soon!