With a first-ever Mountain West title on the line, Utah State soccer beat Colorado State 1-0 in the tournament championship match on Saturday afternoon.

As two of the top defensive teams faced off for an NCAA Tournament bid, it took until the 78th minute for the scoreless deadlock to be broken.

USU sophomore forward Tess Werts placed a pass directly into the path of freshman forward Kate Christian, who sent a right-footed shot past the Rams’ keeper for the 1-0 lead.

The Aggies were able to deny CSU any attempt at an equalizer, closing out the final 12 minutes to secure the first title in USU’s Mountain West Conference era.

With the win the Aggies improve to 14-7-1 on the season.

Defense shining

While Christian’s goal gave Utah State the title, the defense did its part as well.

The Aggies did not allow a shot on goal during the first 36 minutes of the match on the way to recording a shutout. USU’s defense has also allowed just one goal in the past seven contests – all Aggie victories – while notching shutouts in six of those matches.

Racking up the honors

Four Utah State players were named to the Mountain West All-Tournament Team, with senior midfielder Whitney Lopez leading the way as the tournament’s MVP. Graduate goalkeeper Diera Walton, sophomore midfielder Kaitlyn Richins, and junior defender Addy Symonds-Weichers were also named to the all-tournament team.

Six Aggies were also recently named to the 2023 All-Mountain West Teams, highlighted by senior defender Kelsey Kaufusi being voted the MW Defensive Player of the Year.

Kaufusi and and sophomore midfielder Kaylie Chambers were selected to the all-conference first team, while senior defender Kylie Olsen and goalkeeper Diera Walton were chosen for the second team.

Freshman midfielder Summer Diamond was rewarded with a spot on the all-newcomer team, and third-year coach Manny Martins was selected as the MW Coach of the Year.

Up next

After securing its first conference tournament crown since winning the WAC regular season and tournament double in 2012, the Aggies will find out their NCAA Tournament opponent next.

The full bracket will be announced on Monday, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. MT and can be streamed on NCAA.com.

Previous articleWeek 9 Bowl Projections: Destinations for BYU, Utah, & USU
Next articleSUU football overcomes slow start, records Senior Day victory
Spencer Rodak
The founder of Stadium Sportzz and the Sportzz with Spencer podcast, Spencer hopes to one day achieve his dream of working in the world of sports media after completing his Bachelor's degree. Spencer first gained experience in the field of sports writing as a high school senior, where he became the first intern to have a published byline writing for The Spectrum & Daily News in St. George, Utah. Later in the fall of 2017, he was the sports editor for independent campus news source Thunderground and the public address announcer for the women's soccer team at Southern Utah University. Since then, Spencer has worked as a high school sports reporter in St. George, writing for both St. George News and Southern Utah Now. Spencer is also an avid freelancer and has had works appear in the Deseret News, Standard-Examiner, RSL Soapbox, and Fansided's Venom Strikes. Currently, he is a regular contributor to Fan-Insider.com and the UK-based Tottenham site, SpursWeb. When he isn't playing, watching, writing about, or discussing sports, Spencer enjoys working as a part-time athletics PA voice at Utah Tech University and spending time with his amazing wife.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR