USU campus briefs

WOMEN'S SOCCER: Coach Heather Cairns announced the 2009 soccer schedule. The Aggies will play a total of 20 matches this season, including five against teams that competed in the 2008 Women's College Cup.

Utah State will open the 2009 campaign against one of the five NCAA Tournament teams when the Aggies host Northern Arizona in the season opener on Aug. 21 at Chuck and Gloria Bell Soccer Field. After the home opener, USU will play its first of four matches in the Lone Star State. The Aggies will play in the UTEP Tournament on Aug. 28-30 in El Paso, Texas. USU will face Texas Tech on Aug. 28 and Stephen F. Austin on Aug. 30.

"We haven't tested ourselves against Big 12 opponents recently, and we have two of them on our schedule this year with Texas Tech and Oklahoma State," Cairns said. "The Big 12 is a very good soccer conference, so to be able to test ourselves against them is going to give us a good gauge as to where we are in comparison to teams in a different region."

After home matches against both Oklahoma State (Sept. 4) and Wyoming (Sept.

6), the Aggies return to the state of Texas to face UT San Antonio on Sept.

11 and Houston Baptist on Sept. 13. Utah State will continue its longest road trip of the season with two matches in Seattle, Wash. USU takes on 2008 Women's College Cup participant, Washington, on Sept. 18. Utah State will also face Seattle University on Sept. 20 to close out the lengthy road trip.

"Oklahoma State is going to be a great game to have at home because they ended last season ranked No. 13," Cairns said. "Oklahoma State will definitely be a highlight of our home schedule."

USU closes out the non-conference portion of the 2009 schedule with a trio of rivalry matches. USU takes on in-state rival Utah in Logan on Sept. 24 before facing another rival, BYU in Provo on Sept. 26. The Aggies round out non-conference action against Idaho State on Sept. 26 in Logan.

"Idaho State is always a very spirited game for us," Cairns said. "Both Idaho State and Utah are both good rivalry home matches."

USU begins defense of its Western Athletic Conference regular-season title with three road matches, facing Nevada (Oct. 4), Boise State (Oct. 9) and Idaho (Oct. 11) on their home fields. After the trio of road matches, Utah State returns home to face WAC Tournament Champion, Fresno State (Oct. 16) and San Jose State (Oct. 18).