Falcons Defeat Utah State, 1-0, On Senior Day

USAFA, Colo. – In the final home match of the regular season, the Air Force Academy women's soccer team notched its first Mountain West Conference win of the year with a 1-0 triumph over Utah State, Sunday afternoon, Oct. 14, at the Holaday Athletic Center.

Due to the frigid and snowy conditions outside, the Senior Day match was moved to the HAC as opposed to the usual Cadet Soccer Stadium. The change in venue turned out to be exactly what the Falcons (2-6-6, 1-4-3 MW) needed as they notched their first victory since the 3-0 win over Creighton, Aug. 24.

The game winning goal came courtesy of junior forward Bree Bezdek, her first of the season and fourth of her career. It was also her second career game winning goal. On the assists were a pair of seniors in goalie Jennifer Hiddink, who had a free kick into the box, as well as forward Kaitlyn Cook. It was the first career assist for Hiddink, while it was Cook's 10th, which moved her into a tie for seventh in program history.

In net, Hiddink had another phenomenal match, notching her fourth shutout on the year. In all, she made eight saves, while facing nine shots total, to lock up the 17th victory of her career, and 13th clean sheet. She now has 331 all-time saves, which ranks second in the history of the Mountain West Conference. With nine more saves this season, she will break the all-time conference record for career saves.

The first half started with a brilliant opportunity from Laub, as a shot in the 11th minute hit the crossbar, and rattled out, just missing a goal. After the initial opportunity, the Falcons did not get many other chances, as the Aggies (2-12-1, 1-6-1 MW) registered four shots of their own. Hiddink made all four saves though, to keep the match scoreless into halftime.

Out of the break, both sides continued to push evenly for that go ahead goal, but there was nothing doing over the first 10 minutes. In the 65th minute, Utah State was flagged for off sides just a little ways past midfield, setting up a free kick for Air Force. Hiddink stepped up to take the set piece, and drilled the ball into the box. There, it found Cook, who in the fray touched it off to Bezdek, and Bezdek buried the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-0.

From there, Air Force's fierce defense went to work to try and preserve the shutout. The defense was up to the challenge, as they did not let USU get another shot until the 88th minute, but it was not much of a threat as Hiddink made an easy save. With the clock winding down, Utah State got a bit of a break away, but a weak shot was made right before the buzzer, and the Falcons held on for the 1-0 victory.

After the match, a Senior Day ceremony was held, which honored the careers of all seven seniors. The seven recognized were Hiddink, Cook, Taylor Cobb, Hailey Laub, Rafaella Bucur, Bre Robertson, and Alejandra Reveles.

The Falcons are done at home this season, but have three more matches remaining in regular season all coming on the road. The three-match road swing starts next Friday, Oct. 19, when the Falcons head to Albuquerque to take on New Mexico. Start time against the Lobos is set for 7:30 p.m.

Footer

The appearance of hyperlinks does not constitute endorsement by the u.s air force of non-u.s. government sites or the information, products, or services contained therein. Although the u.s. air force may or may not use these sites as additional distribution channels for department of defense information, it does not exercise editorial control over all of the information that you may find at these locations. Such links are provided consistent with the stated purpose of this website.