Colorado State University Athletics
Friday, October 15
Fort Collins, CO
3:00 PM
Colorado State
5-5-2, 4-3-0
3
vs
2
Nevada
3-9-2, 2-3-2
1
2
F
Nevada
1
1
2
Colorado State
2
1
3
Rams Look Good in Pink Out, Win 3-2
10/15/2021 6:23:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Colorado State Collects its Fourth-Straight Win
Savvy Rafkin/Student Writer
By: Savvy Rafkin
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – This weekend is huge, for a few reasons.
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For Colorado State's women's soccer team, a lot of events are packed into a short two-game series on their home field.
Â
Friday afternoon's Pink Out game against Nevada opened the weekend for the Rams' last two outings at home, with Senior Day right around the corner on Sunday.
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The team had also been riding a three-game winning streak, settling them in a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference.
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So clearly, something was working for them. Last time out, head coach Keeley Hagen was focusing on goals for the first and second halves of the matches. Getting ahead of their opponent early was one of them, which the coaching staff lovingly calls "big five moments."
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"We've been working on coming out strong from the beginning," Kaitlyn Abrams said. "Our big fives are the first five minutes of the half, last five minutes of the half, and I think we accomplished that today. We kept going and didn't give up."
Â
And the team certainly showed tenacity, eventually taking the victory 3-2 over UNR. The fourth win in a row for the Rams ties the school record and puts CSU at 5-5-2 overall with a 4-3 Mountain West record.
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When the game opened, the Rams racked up several chances to score. The team tallied 15 shots in the first half, four of which were on the goal.
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Finally, the Rams broke the stalemate when Liv Layton assisted Gracie Armstrong at 37:38, putting the Rams at an advantage before the half, and then again with Kristen Noonan at 40:45, putting the team far ahead of their opponent and breaking open the deadlock.
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With only six seconds remaining in the first half, the Wolf Pack closed the margin and scored a goal, which was not what the team was ready to give up for their big weekend.
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"It's definitely frustrating," Armstrong said. "It's the last minute of the half. We shouldn't be giving up fouls when we're ahead 2-0. It's tough when it's the last minute and they score, and now they're going into the second half feeling good and we're bummed because we just got scored on when it should've been 2-0 at half."
Â
But the "big five mindset" came into play once again in the second half. After the Wolf Pack briefly tied up the game only a few minutes into the new half, Abrams took a shot for the Rams at 49:08, sealing the final score for both teams.
Â
Offensively, it was a big day for the Rams. Colorado State took 19 shots and six on the goal, largely thanks to Noonan with seven shots, tying her season high, and two on the goal. She was accompanied by Armstrong and Abrams with three, and Sarah Hogenkamp with one.
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Defensively, the Rams kept their opponent at bay, with freshman goalie Shayna Ross facing 17 shots and saving six.
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All in all, the Rams exceeded Hagen's expectations and set a nice stage for senior day on Sunday, where the team will also close out their home schedule.
Â
"It's about the seniors," Hagen said. "This whole season has been about the seniors. Sunday is Senior Day and we said at the beginning of the weekend we wanted to start it off with a bang and today was a really special day. That's what we're carrying into Sunday and we're going out there for them and trying to do our process and get better little by little and get the result."
Â
The Rams will play UNLV on Sunday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. MT at the CSU Soccer Field for their home regular-season finale and Senior Day.
Â
For More on Colorado State Women's Soccer follow: Twitter – CSUFutbol | Instagram – csufutbol | Facebook – Colorado State Soccer
Â
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – This weekend is huge, for a few reasons.
Â
For Colorado State's women's soccer team, a lot of events are packed into a short two-game series on their home field.
Â
Friday afternoon's Pink Out game against Nevada opened the weekend for the Rams' last two outings at home, with Senior Day right around the corner on Sunday.
Â
The team had also been riding a three-game winning streak, settling them in a three-way tie for fifth place in the conference.
Â
So clearly, something was working for them. Last time out, head coach Keeley Hagen was focusing on goals for the first and second halves of the matches. Getting ahead of their opponent early was one of them, which the coaching staff lovingly calls "big five moments."
Â
"We've been working on coming out strong from the beginning," Kaitlyn Abrams said. "Our big fives are the first five minutes of the half, last five minutes of the half, and I think we accomplished that today. We kept going and didn't give up."
Â
And the team certainly showed tenacity, eventually taking the victory 3-2 over UNR. The fourth win in a row for the Rams ties the school record and puts CSU at 5-5-2 overall with a 4-3 Mountain West record.
Â
When the game opened, the Rams racked up several chances to score. The team tallied 15 shots in the first half, four of which were on the goal.
Â
Finally, the Rams broke the stalemate when Liv Layton assisted Gracie Armstrong at 37:38, putting the Rams at an advantage before the half, and then again with Kristen Noonan at 40:45, putting the team far ahead of their opponent and breaking open the deadlock.
Â
With only six seconds remaining in the first half, the Wolf Pack closed the margin and scored a goal, which was not what the team was ready to give up for their big weekend.
Â
"It's definitely frustrating," Armstrong said. "It's the last minute of the half. We shouldn't be giving up fouls when we're ahead 2-0. It's tough when it's the last minute and they score, and now they're going into the second half feeling good and we're bummed because we just got scored on when it should've been 2-0 at half."
Â
But the "big five mindset" came into play once again in the second half. After the Wolf Pack briefly tied up the game only a few minutes into the new half, Abrams took a shot for the Rams at 49:08, sealing the final score for both teams.
Â
Offensively, it was a big day for the Rams. Colorado State took 19 shots and six on the goal, largely thanks to Noonan with seven shots, tying her season high, and two on the goal. She was accompanied by Armstrong and Abrams with three, and Sarah Hogenkamp with one.
Â
Defensively, the Rams kept their opponent at bay, with freshman goalie Shayna Ross facing 17 shots and saving six.
Â
All in all, the Rams exceeded Hagen's expectations and set a nice stage for senior day on Sunday, where the team will also close out their home schedule.
Â
"It's about the seniors," Hagen said. "This whole season has been about the seniors. Sunday is Senior Day and we said at the beginning of the weekend we wanted to start it off with a bang and today was a really special day. That's what we're carrying into Sunday and we're going out there for them and trying to do our process and get better little by little and get the result."
Â
The Rams will play UNLV on Sunday, Oct. 17 at 1 p.m. MT at the CSU Soccer Field for their home regular-season finale and Senior Day.
Â
For More on Colorado State Women's Soccer follow: Twitter – CSUFutbol | Instagram – csufutbol | Facebook – Colorado State Soccer
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Savvy Rafkin
Student Writer
Team Stats
UNR
CSU
Goals
2
3
Shots
17
19
Shots on Goal
8
6
Saves
3
6
Corners
5
9
Fouls
7
13
Scoring Plays
Gracie Armstrong (5)
Assisted By: Liv Layton
GOAL by CSU Armstrong, Gracie Assist by Layton, Liv.
37:38
Kristen Noonan (4)
Assisted By: Gracie Armstrong
GOAL by CSU Noonan, Kristen Assist by Armstrong, Gracie.
40:45
Casey Crawford (1)
GOAL by UNR Crawford, Casey.
44:54
Trinity Sandridge (3)
Assisted By: Emily Rich
GOAL by UNR Sandridge, Trinity Assist by Rich, Emily.
48:53
Kaitlyn Abrams (3)
Assisted By: Gracie Armstrong
GOAL by CSU Abrams, Kaitlyn Assist by Armstrong, Gracie.
49:08
Game Leaders
Players
Shots
3
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
2
Shots
7
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
Shots
3
SOG
2
Goals
1
Assists
0
mid
Shots
1
SOG
0
Goals
0
Assists
1
Players Mentioned
M
/ Women's SoccerF
/ Women's Soccer
D
/ Women's SoccerM/F
/ Women's SoccerF
/ Women's Soccer
GK
/ Women's SoccerColorado State Soccer: Fout (L), Hagen (M), McGowan (R) (9/1/25)
Monday, September 01
Colorado State Soccer: Mia Casey (L) & Kate Dunne (R) (8/6/25)
Wednesday, August 06
Colorado State Soccer: Keeley Hagen Media (8/6/25)
Wednesday, August 06
Colorado State Soccer: Keeley Hagen Preseason 2024
Wednesday, August 14