Photo by Jeff Barrett
By Jose Briseno
The Utah State University Eastern Eagles opened the 2023 season with a quick two-game road trip to Wyoming.
Eastern started the trip with a 6-2 win in Powell, Wyoming, over the Northwest Trappers. Six different Eagles found the back of the net. Casey Stracher, Eric Estrada, Vinicius De Silva, William Mugisha, Ramon Nunez and Aiden McMullin scored in the convincing victory.
Goalkeepers Diego Usceche (3) and Mathias Del Lago (2) combined for five saves to help anchor the Eagles’ defense.
The second leg of the road trip took the Eagles to Riverton, Wyoming, to face Central Wyoming. Mugisha recorded a first-half hat-trick to lead Eastern to a 3-1 victory. The hat-trick is Mugisha’s second of his career, the first coming on Oct. 6, 2022, against conference foe Truckee Meadows.
Diego Usceche continued to be a proven goalkeeper, adding two saves to his season total.
Next on the schedule are two scrimmages against NCAA Division II schools Colorado Mesa University and Westminster College. The Eagles will travel to Grand Junction on Aug. 24 to play CMU, then to Salt Lake City on Aug. 26 to take on Westminster.