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Show Monday. Aue. 27. 2007 StatesmanSoorts New Look: Dickey debut \M continued from page 13 F R E S H M A N F O R W A R D L A U R E N H A N S E N dribbles the ball past a Dixie State defender during the second half of play, Aug. 18, at home. Hansen scored her first career goal and the Aggies" lone goal of the game just six minutes into the game. DE8RA HAWKiNS photo Freshman shines in debut, Aggies play to stalemate I BySETH R.HAWKINS editor in chief Despite out-shooting Dixie State College 33-7 and taking the game into double overtime, the USU soccer squad couldn't pull ahead and finished the game With a 1-1 draw on Saturday, Aug. 18, at home. Within six minutes of her collegiate soccer debut, freshman fbnvard Lauren Hansen scored Her first career goal and gave the Aggies their lone goal of the game. ! "1 was so nervous right before," Hansen said. "I just took it and put it where I wanted it to go. It was a beautiful ball by Dana (Peart) to set it up and everyone tyas yelling at me to take it and shoot it. Scoring that goal early dalmed my nerves a little." I In the sixth minute of play, senior midfielder and team capt^ain Dana Peart stole the ball from a Rebel defender and with a sliding kick delivered the ball tb Hansen. Dribbling the ball around a DSC defender, Hansen tjook a shot from the top of the 18-yard box and rocketed the ball past Rebel goalkeeper Suzanne Hunt to give the Aggies an early i-0 lead. i The Aggie advantage was short-lived, as the Rebels responded with a strong attack on Aggie junior goalkeeper Lisa Willardson. Dixie State forward Wendy Stratford sprinted ahead of USU defenders to leave her in a one-on-one showdown with Willardson. Deking, Stratford pulled Willardson well away from the net and, with a quick move at the net, faked out \Villardson, who fell to her l^nees, leaving the net wide open. Stratford walked the ball forward and easily put the ball in the back of the net to tie the game and provide the final goal of the day. . "It was a total defensive breakdown," Head Coach Heather Cairns said of Stratford's penetration of the Aggie defense. "I think probably a midfielder, all four defenders and the goaltender *yere disorganized and got juked. ft was chaos." The first half was dominated by play at the extremes of the field, with minimal action in the midfield and both teams splitting time with the ball. Midway through the half, the Aggies moved away from the sporadic playing scheme and started passing the ball around. This style of play kept the ball in Aggies' possession for the majority of the half, which allowed USU to fire off 12 shots in the first half, many of which were just off the mark. Dixie State struggled to maintain possession of the ball long enough to get down the field and only managed three shots the entire half. "I felt that halfway through the first half we started to possess the ball," Cairns said. "Before, it was definitely more choppy. It wasn't necessarily something I was pushing from the sideline, but it was something we had been working on to feel the rhythm of it." The second half brought a change in the net for the Aggies as junior goalkeeper Ali Griffin took her turn. Griffin played every minute in the net for the Aggies last season and provided a staunch defense against strong Rebel pressure in the second half of play on Saturday. Griffin posted three saves, including a diving save from a shot by DSC's Robyn Wall in the final minutes of regular play. In a physical game that saw 30 total fouls, the ball took to the air with action on both sides of the field. The Aggies pressed hard on the DSC net with a barrage of shots but couldn't manage to land any of their 14 shots in the net. Hansen proved an asset again in the second half with a shot that bounced off the top right corner of the goal, barely missing a second goal on the day. Hansen saw considerable action in the forward position, along with midfielder Katie Brower, as the Aggies utilized more focused crossing patterns, Cairns said. This opened up the field for numerous scoring opportunities, but the Aggies couldn't convert. Hansen finished the game with seven shots. "At halftime we talked about the quality of our crosses," Cairns said. "The first half we were just kind of playing it in there and saying a prayer it would land on somebody's head. In the second half we started picking out a target and being more purposeful with our crosses." As regulation time dwindled, the Rebels notched up the pressure and kept USU on the defensive. Dixie State struggled to find open passing routes through the USU defensive line and managed just three shots in the half. With the score still tied, the game went into overtime. Both overtimes were packed with close shots, but poor execution on both sides left the final score the same as at the half. Cairns said her team had few practices before the game, all of which focused on getting down a new system of play instituted this season. "We practiced three times before this," Cairns said. "Obviously you don't like to out-shoot somebody 33 to 7 and only score one goal. I think that not only had we practiced three times, we instituted a new system. We're playing a new system right now. So between the two of those things, I was pretty pleased with the learning we did this week. I was thrilled with the challenges we were able to create. Obviously you want to poke some in, but we're heads and tails better than we were last year. Notable absences in the match included sophomore forward Erin Salmon, who was a leading scorer for the Aggies last season, and junior forward Candice Clark, both of whom are recovering from knee injuries. The Aggies begin a five-game road stretch, beginning with Texas State on Aug. 31. -seth, h@aggiemail. usu, edit goes up or down by position. For skill players - quarterbacks, wide receivers and running backs - much has changed, up to 70 percent new terminology in some cases, Guy said. For offensive linemen, none of their calls changed. In fact, they had to teach Dickey their language. "Instead of 15 guys learning new terminology, I just decided to learn how they talked," Dickey said. Although a change in offense can be a daunting task, Guy and Dickey said they are pleased with how well the players are picking everything up. "When we got through spring, we had 60 or 70 percent more in than Coach Dickey thought we could get in, in spring," Guy said. "So we're way ahead of the game as far as the amount of things we can do in our game plan." The speed of the transition could be explained by a change in Utah State's off-season philosophy. This meant using walk-throughs as a way to spend more time on the mental game and play execution, Guy said. Or maybe the quick transition has to do with players having experience with the process of learning a new offense. Utah State has had a plethora of different offensive schemes in the last four years, including Mick Dennehy's pass-heavy approach and an offense that relied on quarterback runs. Some seniors, like wide receiver Kevin Robinson and starting quarterback Leon Jackson III, have been through it all. "It's not been that hard learning a new offense," Jackson said. "I've had four different offensive coordinators. After you get to about two or three and you start understanding that football is football and you're seeing that it's the same stuff just with different ways of running it and with different names." Although some of the older players might be used to this transition, Dickey was aware how hard the situation can be for old players and a new coach. "Sometimes guys are set in their ways, and I told them, 'Guys, I'm not set in my ways,'" he said."... We kind of had to accept each other." The acceptance shows when seniors on offense are asked about Dickey. "He's a really good coach," Pace Jorgensen, senior guard, said. "He melds really good with the players." Aaron Lesue, the Aggies' starting tailback, said Dickey is doing an "awesome job" because he's very intelligent, knows the game and is passing that on to the players. There is also excitement among players about Dickey and the new offense. "It's going to be fun," Robinson said. "You never know what he's going to throw out there." Dickey isn't immune to the excitement bug, either. "I've seen that we have enough talent to play football with anyone on our schedule," he said. "... We obviously have a long way to go and a lot of work to do, but based on what I've seen, I like our chances." - SE 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. da.bake@aggiemail.usu.edu Position: Ags sport experience U continued from page 13 go out and make plays. It's just whoever gets the ball at the time." This cast includes Otis Nelson - the Aggies' second leading receiver last season and returning lettermen Xavier Bowman, Nnamdi Gwacham and Omar Sawyer. Utah State will also be strengthened by the addition of Tarell Richards, who was recently granted another year of eligibility by the NCAA. At tight end, the Aggies also return experience. Seniors Jimmy Bohm and Will Fausel and junior Rob Myers all logged playing time last season. Myers led the group with 10 catches for 125 yards in 2006. Offensive line: With junior center Ryan Tonnemacher and senior guards Pace Jorgensen and Shawn Murphy returning, Utah State should be strong up the middle. "It's the first time in a while that we've had five guys playing well together (at offensive line)," Jorgensen said. "We have three really solid people in the middle. They're both really athletic guys too." Tonnemacher, who is making the switch from guard to center this season, was named to the 2007 Rimington Trophy Watch List. The Rimington Trophy is given annually to college football s best center. Jorgensen isn't on any watch lists, but the starting right guard enters the season with 27 career starts, which is the most on the team. Murphy will move to left guard this season after starting all 12 games at left tackle in '06. Rounding out the o-line are probable starters Derek Hoke and freshman Spencer Johnson at the tackles. Hoke, a junior, has started five games in the last two seasons. -da.hake@aggiemail.usu.edu Rent One Movie at AMC Get One Free! Come play Northern Utah's Best-Kept Secret. 18 Championship Holes Driving Range Practice Putting & Chipping Greens Ed Needham Rent One DVD New Release at S2.99 & Keep ML Get One FREE DVD New Release Movie! S days! Rent one "Collection " Movie (choose hm 20,000 m & am) ats 1.99, get one FREE! 25 W. 100 N. Logan 753-0333 BWD AMC p Imaging the Visual Experience Open Mon - Sat 12:00 - 8:00 PM We have a lot of competition. To meet our competitors, and hopefully beat them, we are giving away free movies with each rental. By keeping new release prices low at $2.99 and giving one new release movie free, we hope to meet Netflicks price. Keep the movies five days. Choose from hundreds of new release titles received at AMC over the last year. Or, rent movies from the "Collection" which has over 20,000 VHS and DVD titles at $1.99 each. If, W& **.-" |