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Show Monday, Nov. 1, 2010 Page 9 Monday51:10 S Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.utahstatesman.com Hansen's hat-trick leads Aggies in dominant win By MEGAN ALLEN news senior writer SENIOR FORWARD LAUREN HANSEN dribbles upfield during Sunday's 4-0 win over Hawaii. Hansen scored three goals in the game to become the all-time goal scoring leader in Utah State's history with 38 for her career. STERLING BOIN photo With a hat-trick in the first half of Sunday's game against the Hawaii Rainbow Wahine (3-14-3, 1-5-2), senior striker Lauren Hansen became Utah State's all-time leading goal scorer in the Aggies to a 4-0 shutout win. The match marked the end of regular-season play for the Aggies (9-6-5, 5-21) as well as the last home match for this year's senior class. In the second minute of play, on assists from Mari Miyashiro and Heather Pond, Hansen made a clear shot from the 18-yard line to tie the USU career goal record that had been set by Jayme Gordy from 1997 to 2000. Just 14 minutes later, midfielder Stefani Shiozaki sent a corner kick directly to Hansen, who headed it into the goal breaking Gordy's record, and giving Hansen a total of 37 career goals. "It was so fitting to get that assist from Shio(zaki)," Hansen said. "She's my best friend, I couldn't have asked for a better person to help me to get the record." "It was so great," Shiozaki said. "She scored that second goal and we just looked at each other and almost started crying. It was a very emotional game for all of us." Pond, also a midfielder, said, "Our main goal was to win of course, but we really wanted to help Lo (Hansen) get her record. For me to help her get the tie, and Shio(zaki) to help her beat it, was absolutely amazing." Heather Cairns, Aggie head coach, said it was great for Hansen to make her mark among players like Gordy. "Jayme is the elite of our program," she said. "It is a fitting tribute for Lauren to take her place with her." Five minutes later, Hansen followed her record-breaking goal with another 18-yard goal on an assist from fellow striker, Shantel Flanary. This class of seniors is the winningest class in Utah State soccer history. They are also the only class to come away with winning seasons all four years of their careers. "The whole team came together for us to accomplish that," Hansen said. "That's why we have been so successful." All three seniors ended their last regular season with stats on the score sheet. Cairns said the girls have taken pride in every aspect of their experience here. "They are all good at seizing their opportunities," she said. The Aggies held Hawaii to a shutout, though they did come close to scoring a few times. Hawaii had the first scoring opportunity in the first minute of the game, but the shot was blocked by goalkeeper Molli Merrill. Hawaii had three other shots on goal, all stopped by Merrill. In the first half, both teams took eight shots, but in the second half, USU outshot the Wahine 15-1. "It's always tough when you're on your way to shutting a team out. You don't want to lose motivation," Pond said. We did a good job the keeping up our determination in the second half and maintaining the shutout." Sunday's win puts the Aggies as the Western Athletic Conference's cochampions heading into post-season play, marking the fifth time in the last six years the Aggies have finished in first or second in the conference. "The post-season is do or die," Cairns said. "The prize is within reach, everyone just needs to step up, compete, and go for it. It's another opportunity for us to seize." Hansen, Pond, and Shiozaki all said they were thrilled with the way Sunday went. "I honestly don't think you could have planned it this way," Hansen said. "Our families are here, the three of us really helped each other out, and the weather is great." Shiozaki said,"What a good way to end our senior year." "It was perfect," Hansen said. — megan.allen@aggiemail. usu. edu Basketball gets first tune-up ofyear with blowout of Laval By TYLER HUSKINSON web editor Junior guard Brockeith Pane scored 16 points and five other Aggies reached double figures to lead Utah State over Universite Laval Red and Gold Saturday night, 93-51. Jean Beaulieu led the out-matched Red and Gold with 19 points and Jerome Turcotte added 17 of his own. Despite the dominant performance, the Aggies felt there is still room for improvement. "It's a work in progress, obviously," USU forward Brady Jardine said. "I think we did some things really well and I think we did some things poorly. That's the nice thing about a veteran team; we realize that a 50-point win doesn't mean anything. We've still got a long way to go." Jardine got the start in place of senior forward Nate Bendall, and finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Jardine's role may become more significant this season because Bendall did not dress for the game, and his right foot may have him out for an extended period of time. "It's the same stuff," Aggie head coach Stew Morrill said. "He (Bendall) tried to go and he just couldn't go. He wakes up in the morning and can't walk. He's got chronic foot issues. He's got two screws in his feet; stress fractures flare up all over. We were fortunate to get him through last year. Whether or not he will play again at all is hard to say. He's gonna be out at least four weeks or more and then we'll go from there." Going into the season, the point guard position was a big question mark for the Aggies. Pane played well, but so did freshman guard James Walker III, who finished with six points, seven assists and two steals. Both Pane and Walker III were quick on defense and efficiently ran the fast break. "I was encouraged at the point guard position," Morrill said. "I thought both Brockeith and James did a nice job." One thing that Morrill and the Aggies were not happy with was their first-half defense. The Red and Gold hit 44 percent of their shots and Beaulieu and Turcotte both reached double-digits in the first half. "(Turcotte), we didn't have much of an answer for him in the first half," Morrill said. "I was on them pretty hard at halftime. I didn't like how we defended and then we held them to 11 points in the second half until the last minute and a half. We weren't very good defensively in the first half. We played much better defensively in the second half." The Aggies held the Red and Gold to 25 percent shooting in the second half and the Red and Gold finished shooting 34.6 percent on the night. "This is a great team," Red and Gold head coach Jacques Paiement, Jr. said. "They've got everything, they're physical, they can shoot, they can pound it inside, and so it's a good team. I don't think we are the only ones they are going to blow out this year." The Aggies finished shooting 56.7 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from 3-point range, while struggling from the free-throw line, hitting 68 percent of their shots. Regardless of the statistics, the exhibition game served its POINT GUARD BROCKEITH PANE led Utah State with 16 points during his first exhibition game in an Aggie uniform. Pane was one of six Aggie players who scored in double figures during Saturday's 93-51 win over Laval. TODD JONES photo purpose for Morrill and the Aggies. "On we go," Morrill said. "It's what exhibition games are all about. It was nice to get out there and play somebody different besides ourselves and get everybody a chance to get in front of our crowd a little bit." So are the Aggies ready for the regular season? "We need another exhibition game," Jardine said. "Every day and every way we get a little better, and that's how it's going to be the rest of the season. As the season progresses we'll get better and better." Luckily for Jardine and the rest of the Aggies, they will face Grand Canyon before the regular season starts, and it will be a more difficult test than their game against the Red and Gold. "It's an American team, a good non-division team," Morrill said. "They've had a great tradition. They have some transfer-back guys. They'll be real physical. It'll be totally different than playing a foreign team." The Aggies will face Grand Canyon on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Spectrum. — ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu |