Photos by Jeff Barrett
USU Eastern Press Release
USU Eastern men’s soccer lost to the fifth-ranked Snow College Badgers twice over the weekend at home.
USU Eastern lost to the Badgers by a score of 2-1 in a game filled with fouls. Both teams combined to commit 32 fouls, but no yellow or red cards were issued.
“I thought we did well. At moments, we outplayed them and we had opportunities to score,” said USU Eastern head coach Ammon Bennett.
Snow took the lead in the 24th minute off a unassisted goal by Chanson Vawdrey. The Badgers scored less than three minutes later with a goal by Mitchell Pyle to take a 2-0 lead before halftime.
In the beginning of the second half, USU Eastern’s Frak DeBry scored an unassisted goal to cut the Snow lead to one goal. DeBry’s goal on Friday was his tenth goal of the season, which ranks him 25 in the country for goals scored.
The teams had some chances to get another goal in the game as both teams had five shots in the second half.
USU Eastern goalie Israel Davila Aleman had seven saves in the game, including five saves in the first half.
Bennett said after the game that he was impressed with his team’s second half play while trailing against the Badgers.
“We came out in the second half and jumped all over them and played a great second half,” said Ammon Bennett.
On Saturday, the Eagles played another solid game against the Badgers but ultimately could not get on the board with a score and lost 1-0.
“We played really well but ultimately could not connect with the ball in the final third,” said Bennett.
The only goal of the game came from Harei Maeda in the 11th minute. Snow was able to capitalize on a set piece to score the goal, which ended up being very close to being a save by Davila Aleman.
In the second half, both teams combined for nine shots but none were successful.
Despite picking up their fifth conference loss of the season, Bennett said after the game that his team played well against a very good opponent.
“I thought we played very well and Snow is a quality team that is nationally ranked. I think we are as good as anyone in the league. If we can stay positive going forward, I think we can make some noise in the region tournament,” said Bennett.
Up next for USU Eastern is a pair of road games to Craig, Colo. against Colorado Northwest on Friday and Saturday. The Eagles will return home on Thursday, Oct. 18 with another game against CNCC after a week of road games at CSN and Snow.
