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Show StatesmanSports Page 10 Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2009 Women’s Soccer Men’s Soccer Members of the men’s soccer team practice for their upcoming season. The Aggies made a run at a region title in 2008 and hope to do so again this year. TYLER LARSON photo High hopes for ‘09 season By STEVEN CLARK staff writer senior lindsey smart is one of three captains on this year’s women’s soccer team. Smart has been an integral part of USU’s success over the past few seasons, culminating with the WAC regular season championship last season. This year Smart has her sights set higher. PETE SMITHSUTH photo Let’s talk about football, but not the football you skip church to watch on Sunday with your dad. It’s soccer season. With all the hype about the 2009 Aggie football season, it’s time to highlight the men who actually play futbol. The USU men’s soccer club sweated through tryouts last weekend with aspirations to put together a team good enough to win a region championship and qualify for nationals. With 13 returning players, including seven starters, the Aggies have high hopes of accomplishing their goal of improving on last year’s record of 8-5 and winning a region title. The Aggies had a strong 2008 season where they finished 3rd in the region tournament which consisted of 12 teams. The region itself has about 20 teams. Due to the lack of an NCAA men’s soccer league, the Aggies are a part of the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association (NIRSA). In NIRSA, the teams who qualify for nationals are those who finish with the best record in their region or make the two available wild card spots. Barely missing the wild card for nationals last year left a bad taste in the Aggies’ mouth, but captains Dave Firmage and Danny Fonseca are positive that this year’s squad has what it takes to get the job done. “We have a really good team this year, and everyone will contribute,” Fonseca said. “We have people from all over who’ve played some pretty good soccer.” The Aggies have a tough region looking at them this year, including BYU-Idaho, BYU, and nationally ranked Weber State. Both Firmage and Fonseca said they are confident that players will step up in crucial times during the season. Some of those expected stand out players for this year are midfielder Vic Carlson, defenseman Tyson Kelly – a transfer from Iowa Western – and Fonseca. “Make it to nationals, that’s always our goal,” co-captain Dave Firmage said. The Aggies’ take their first step toward accomplishing that goal on Sept. 12 when they take on the Juventas. All home games will be played at the Tower Field. There is one game in particular that the Aggies are licking their chops to play and it will take place Sept. 25 against the team down south – BYU. “We lost to both BYU and BYU-Idaho last year,” Fonseca said. The Aggies are definitely hoping for a better result this season. It should be some good soccer, indeed, if the Aggies play as hard as they’ve been practicing. Final cuts have been made and they are hitting the ground running. From the looks of it, USU can expect two very successful football/futbol seasons. “We hope for a lot of support,” Fonseca said. “Come watch some good soccer this year.” –steve.clark@aggiemail.usu.edu Smart a leader on and off the field By LANDON HEMSLEY staff writer Lindsey Smart, one of three captains for the USU women’s soccer team, is a player with a lot of family history at Utah State University, not all of it in athletics. For example, the Ross A. Smart Veterinary Diagnostics Laboratory is in fact named after her grandfather, and that’s not all. Her father was a student body officer, her mother was a cheerleader and her sister helped coach the women’s gymnastics team last year before moving to Washington. With a load of family history in Cache Valley, it’s not surprising that the soccer star from Sandy decided to make Cache Valley her collegiate home. Smart said there were a number of reasons that she came to play for the Aggies when considering her collegiate destination, but the determinant was that she knew she’d fit in well, get a lot of playing time and be able to make a meaningful contribution to the team. She said she felt very comfortable with her peers and with the head coach, Heather Cairns. “I talked with Heather and visited campus a lot,” Smart said. “I knew it was a good fit for me. I knew that this was a program headed in the right direction, and in my years here at Utah State it’s just gotten better and better.” Smart certainly has the soccer and athletic resume to back USU’s athletic scholarship offer. She won the 5A State Soccer championship while at Brighton High School, in addition to being selected to the 5A All-State team by both The Deseret News and The Salt Lake Tribune. Since coming to USU, she has started all 66 matches she’s played in, a respectable feat alone. Beyond starting, Smart was named WAC Freshman of the Year in 2006, earned allWAC academic honors in the same year, earned the Joe E. and Elma Whitesides ScholarAthlete award in 2006, 2007 and 2008, earned the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) academic all-district eight honors, and is part of the team that has garnered six straight NSCAA Team Academic Awards. This is a young lady who has earned a lot for herself. Smart has strong career and academic aspirations. She is an exercise science major with hopes of getting to graduate school in order to become a physician’s assistant. Smart, who will graduate this year, said she has already sent off applications to seven different graduate schools in four different states, including the University of Utah’s physician’s assistant program. Luckily for us Aggies, Smart won’t be play- Come play Northern Utah’s Best-Kept Secret. 18 Championship Holes Driving Range Practice Putting & Chipping Greens G o l f C o u r s e 550 East 100 North Smithfield, Utah 435-563-6825 Fall USU Student Special: 9 Holes of Golf, Sunday-Friday $10, must show current USU ID. ing soccer for them. With all of this young lady’s strengths, awards, recognition and aspirations it’s hard to believe that Smart said she felt very intimidated starting here as a freshman. “Starting that first game as a freshman I was super, super scared,” Smart said. “I felt like I had been thrown into it. It forced me to grow, so it was good, but it was hard. I feel like I’ve been able to grow into my role on this team, though.” The team apparently agrees, because Smart was voted into her captaincy role by her teammates. Smart said she feels humbled by the selection. “I’m honored,” Smart said. “It means the team has confidence in my abilities. When I was selected as a junior to be captain, Coach said it was because I was an example to the team. I thought it was cool that my example rubbed off a little bit. It’s a great feeling.” Smart’s leadership abilities have helped the Aggies do very well so far this season. The defensive midfielder has led the team to its best start in school history, 3-0-0, and said that this team’s aspirations and abilities for this year are very high. “This team has a ton of talent,” Smart said. “There’s just so much depth. Everyone can play, everyone’s competing every single day in practice and in the games. We want to win the WAC tournament and get to the NCAA tournament this year, especially after last year’s double-overtime loss to Fresno.” Although this team has been selected to win the conference this year, Smart said she knows that what’s on paper is very different than what happens on the field. Smart said that every WAC match is a battle, no matter who you play. “It could be Fresno, Hawaii or whoever,” she said, “The thing about WAC games is that every game’s a battle. When I got here, we were at the bottom, and we earned our respect. You can’t rely on the polls. You have to play.” In particular, Smart said the WAC championship match from last year’s tournament was a very difficult loss. “It was a back and forth battle. We would advance, then they would advance. It was so heartbreaking to play for that long, get to the double overtime, and then they sent in a perfect shot to win it. It was a shot out of nowhere,” she said. “We want to get to the NCAA tournament this year, and we can.” With all of that in the past, there is a lot of hope for the USU soccer team this year, and the team has earned respect. It has already beaten Texas Tech, its first Big XII opponent ever, and will have the opportunity to take out No. 21 Oklahoma State when the Cowgirls come to Logan Friday on the Bell Soccer Field at 7 p.m. Smart and her co-captains are excited to lead their team out to meet the challenge, and earn the respect they so covet. –la.hem@aggiemail.usu.edu “Starting the first game as a freshman I was super, super scared. It felt like I had been thrown into it. It forced me to grow, so it was good, but it was hard. I feel like I’ve been able to grow into my role on this team, though.” - Lindsey Smart |