OPENING KICK: The No. 13 Snow College men's soccer team will travel to Price to take on No. 20 Utah State University Eastern Friday at 3:30 p.m. at the Castleview Hospital Soccer Field. This matchup is the only meeting for these teams this week.
The Badgers are coming off a split weekend, suffering a 1-0 loss against the College of Southern Idaho and picking up a win over Truckee Meadows Community College, 6-0.
KNOW YOUR FOE: The Eagles sit at a 6-1-2 overall record with a 5-1-1 conference record. USUE's sole loss came earlier this year in Ephraim against the Badgers 1-0.
In the last meeting, the Badgers took 21 shots with seven on net to the Eagles' 12 with six on net. Both teams recorded six saves, and USUE allowed the only goal of the game.
The Badgers are 15-8 all-time against the Eagles, with a 7-4 record on the road. The Badgers are on a three-game win streak against USUE, with their last loss coming in 2023, a 2-1 defeat in Price.
RECORD WATCH: Mathias Christensen finished with five saves over the weekend, bringing him to 35 on the year and 90 in his career. He currently sits in third place all-time in career saves. Christensen needs nine saves over the next seven games to break the school record set at 98 by Jason Myers in 2018-2019.
LAST TIME OUT: The Badgers put up two shots within the first 16 minutes of regulation, including a shot by
Ryan Henry that was saved by the CSI goalie in the seventh minute. CSI regained ground against the Badgers and took control for the majority of the middle parts of the half. They recorded six total shots during that time, but were unable to find the net.
The Badgers responded in the last five minutes of the first half with another pair of shots, and one of them found the Golden Eagle keeper in the 42nd minute off the foot of Beltran.
Snow College and CSI headed into the half tied at 0-0. The Badgers took four shots to the Golden Eagles' six.
Mathias Christensen recorded one save in the first half on the Golden Eagles' only shot on net.
CSI opened the second half in control, putting up two early shots within the first three minutes of the half, neither finding its way home. The Golden Eagles did break through in the 65th minute, beating Christensen to bring the score to 1-0.
The Badgers would find chances throughout the rest of the game, none closer than a shot in the 82nd minute by
Jeff De Coteau that the keeper whisked away. The Badgers fell for the second time this season in conference play with a final score of 1-0.
The Badgers finished the game with eight shots, three of which were on net. Christensen finished the game with two saves and one goal allowed, just his seventh on the year.
After the loss to CSI, the Badgers headed to Reno, Nevada, to take on TMCC. The Lizards were coming off a 4-0 loss against Utah State University Eastern, leading into the match.
Snow College got off to a hot start, knocking in two goals in the first 20 minutes of the game. The first came in the ninth minute when Beltran was able to beat the keeper on an assist from
Fred Cotta, scoring his third goal of his young career. The second came in the 18th minute off a
Mateus Romualdo penalty kick as he slotted it in the bottom left of the net.
The Badgers were able to score two more times in the first half courtesy of
Gabe Newman in the 34th minute and
Liam Kilbane in the 43rd minute; both goals were unassisted. The Badgers entered the half up 4-0 against the Lizards.
Snow College took six shots in the first half, with four of them finding the net and the other two being saved by the keeper. Christensen recorded three saves in the first half, keeping TMCC at bay.
The Badgers kept their foot on the gas in the second half. They took eight shots, two of which found the net from
Francisco Madeira, who scored in the 73rd and 80th minutes with assists from
JJ Cubillas and De Coteau, respectively. The final score was 6-0 in favor of the Badgers.
Snow College finished the game with 14 shots, 11 of them finding their way on net, and six making it past the keeper into the TMCC net.
UP NEXT: The Badgers will finish out their road stretch and take on Colorado Northwestern Community College Oct. 9 in Rangely, Colorado, at 3:30 p.m. These two teams met earlier this year, with the Badgers winning 1-0, moving to 22-0 all-time against the Spartans.
Snow College will then travel to Taylorsville to take on Salt Lake Community College Oct. 11 at 1:30 p.m. Their matchup earlier this season ended in a 1-0 Badger win in Ephraim. For video streaming and live stat information, visit snowbadgers.com.
