Maddie Marr on the field.

Photo courtesy of Nevada Athletics. Maddie Marr is ready for action against the Aggies.

Nevada women’s soccer takes first conference loss to the Utah State Aggies after a tough battle. 

At the away game on Sept. 24, Nevada fought hard to keep their one point lead but was unable to defend the Aggies. 

The Aggies had a quick fist shot that happened at 00:33. Senior goalie Kendal Stovall saved senior midfielder Kami Warner’s top of the goal shot. Utah had four more shots on goal, three of which were shot wide, and one save by Stovall. 

Midfield graduate student Hannah Souza had Nevada’s first shot with a strong bottom center placement. Junior goalie Diera Walton saved the shot. Each team had one more shot after this, but no goals were made in the first half.

In the start of the second half, junior forward Gabby Brown got a yellow card, but was able to get a shot on goal a minute later. The bottom right shot was saved by Walton. 

At 48:52, Nevada’s sophomore defender Madison Marr scored the first goal from an assist by Souza. 

This 1-0 lead for Nevada did not last long, though. After a foul on freshman forward Emily Rich, the Aggies scored a goal at 51:02. Senior midfielder Ashley Cardozo was assisted by junior forward Sara Taylor, making the score 1-1. 

The teams had equal playtime on each side of the field. The fight for the lead meant strong defense by both teams. Nevada made four substitutions so that fresh feet were on the field and to allow for the hard working starting lineup to take short rests. Utah’s eight substitutions included senior forward Jordan Foraker coming in for Taylor. 

Foraker scored the final goal of the game with an assist from Cardozo at 85:27. Nevada was unable to get a shot in the last five minutes of the game to tie. Utah won 2-1. 

Boise State University is up next for Nevada. BSU won their first conference game against UNLV, 2-0. 

The game will be at home on Sept. 26 at noon. 

Kelsey Middleton can be reached at kelseymiddleton@sagebrush.unr.edu or on Twitter @kelsmiddleunr