Unselfish Play Leads to Rams Win over Falcons

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By Mike Brohard
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – After a first half of constant pressure, a bit of patience became the separator the team needed.

Colorado State's Gracie Armstrong worked her way to a clean look in the box in the 67^th minute of Sunday's Mountain West match with Air Force at CSU Soccer Field, but in the back of her mind, she just knew teammate Liv Layton would be charging up on the play.

And in the corner of her eye, she spotted Layton. More importantly, she realized Layton would have a much clearer look at the goal, sliding the ball over to her. Layton pushed it past the Falcons' netminder for the only goal necessary in a 1-0 victory, a third in a row for the Rams, the second by the same score.

"We work on that in training every week, so I was really proud of the composure both of them had," CSU head coach Keeley Hagen said. "Especially Gracie, to recognize her teammate was in a better scoring position than her, and then to execute. I was really proud of them."

Colorado State improved to 4-5-2 overall, 3-3-0 in conference play. The Falcons are now 5-7-1, 2-4-0.

Layton was charging up the field and watching Armstrong work the defense, shedding one defender and moving toward the center where she had a good look at the goal. All the way up the field, Layton was thinking she needed to be in position to collect a possible deflection.

"We practice so much on rebounds, and that's a huge part of the game," Layton said. "I was going in thinking Gracie's got this. She did all the work, honestly, then found me and I was lucky enough to get it in the back of the net. That was all Gracie's work, and I'm just lucky I could be there.

"I strictly went in for a rebound, and I'm just here if she needs me."

Armstrong decided differently for the both of them. Earlier this year, Hagen felt her team had been too patient at times, looking for the perfect shot, missing chances. This time around, making the right moves to have a clear line develop paid off.

It just wasn't for Armstrong, who leads the team with four goals. It did for Layton, who now has two, giving Armstrong her first assist on the season.

"When I look up and see somebody else wide open, I'd rather have a clear shot than a chance," Armstrong said. "I thought Liv was in a better position to score.

"I knew she was running with me the whole time, and I felt they were more focused on me with the ball and they just left her wide open. When I looked up for that split second, I was like, 'oh my god, she's wide open.'"

Layton was, producing what she believes to be one of the easier goals she's scored.

Even still, she wanted to make sure she capitalized rather that walk away frustrated.

"I think so. I scared myself taking the first touch, but then I looked behind me and realized I had enough time, so I got it on my left foot," Layton said. "This time it worked out. Again, it was all Gracie's work. She hustled, got to the end line, picked her head up and found me. We work on making runs into the box, and the thought in my head was I've got to get there, because I was at the mid-stripe, so I've got to run 50 yards to get there and be with her."

In the first 45 minutes of play, the Rams produced 12 shots, four of them on goal. Armstrong had the first good look in the first 10 minutes with a one-on-one with the keeper. But the pressure, despite persistent, still led to a scoreless game at the break.

Air Force, which took just three shots in the opening half, rewrote the script in the second, finishing the game with two more shots than the Rams (17-15). Of their attempts, five were on net, and Shayna Ross had to make an impressive save, punching a shot high over the net.

She's been in goal for the past three games, all CSU victories, bringing a voice to the defensive effort Hagen has liked.

"She's just communicating," Hagen said. "We talk about how important is to communicate to everybody in front of you so you can solve a lot of problems before they happen. I'm just really happy with how she's communicating. That gives comfort to our backs, and everybody is stepping up across the board."

Before the current three-game run, Colorado State had been hampered by a series of soft goals from opponents, but during a 12-day break between matches, the team had a long stretch where they could iron out some of their misgivings.

Those improvements have come into play, especially this weekend as the Rams held firm on their home turf with a pair of victories against in-state foes.

"I'm really proud of having a clean sheet, and that's part of having a mentality in our defensive box at the end there," Hagen said. "We were saying no shots, and Gracie laid out to block a shot, Sarah Hogenkamp laid out to stop the ball. Those types of plays give us momentum on defense and keep reinforcing why we're doing that."

The whole process with the change at the top has required some persistence and a bit of patience. Now, the team is seeing some positive results unfold, reminding them what they were doing all along.

Being patient and sticking to the plan. Sunday's goal was a prime example.

"That's our chance," Armstrong said. "We've been waiting for one of those perfect little tap-in goals, and that was our opportunity."

Next

The Rams will complete their home schedule next weekend, starting with Nevada on Friday, Oct. 15 at 3 p.m. MT and then a 1 p.m. MT meeting with UNLV on Sunday for Senior Day.

For More on Colorado State Women's Soccer follow: Twitter – CSUFutbol | Instagram – csufutbol | Facebook – Colorado State Soccer

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