Soccer Kicks Off Homecoming Weekend

FORT COLLINS, Colo. – For Colorado State Athletics, the CSU soccer team will be the first sporting event to occur during the festivity-packed Homecoming and Family Weekend when the Rams take on Colorado College Friday at 3 p.m. at the CSU Soccer Field.

After Friday's game against the Tigers (2-8-1, 1-2-1 MW), the Rams (2-5-2, 1-3 MW) will host Air Force (5-5-1, 2-2 MW) Sunday at 3 p.m. for the annual State Pride Game.

Momentum and confidence are what the Rams are trying to continue from their 2-1 come from behind victory at San Jose State last Sunday.

"We've talked about building off last weekend's win and ultimately we need to be building off every single game to get better," head coach Keeley Hagen said. "I feel like we are doing that little by little and on Sunday we saw that come to fruition with getting goals in. Ultimately, the individual improvements with help the team success. Our system is very repetitive now and the reminders are as well. Everybody can know tell me how we play, so it is up to executing in each third of the field, so we can ultimately get goals, which is the name of the game."

The Rams were trailing by a goal with eight minutes left against the Spartans and in jeopardy of a long travel day when Gracie Armstrong flipped the script and equalized it in the 82^nd minute. Instead of the Rams going to their fourth overtime of the regular season, six minutes later Kaitlyn Abrams fired a game-winner from outside the box in the 88^th minute to shock the home team and ultimately give CSU its first road win and first conference win of the season.

"We are making adjustments and changes because we haven't been starting well by being in a hole going into the second half" Hagen added. "We will continue to use different personnel out there to see if we can get going in the right direction early. Colorado College is a very good team that hasn't gotten the results it wants, which feels like us in that we've had a lot of opportunities but haven't found the back of the net in them. They've dominated in possession, so it will be a challenging game in both sides of the ball. As far as Air Force, its going to be just like all the other conference games. It comes down to winning the attacking box and the defending box."

After the game against Colorado College, there will be Friday Night Lights at the Lagoon, which consists of a bonfire, fireworks and lighting of the "A".

"Whenever we have a big crowd, it brings a lot of energy," Hagen on the anticipated big weekend. "We are always looking for high energy and support because it helps our student-athletes. We are excited to kick off the Homecoming festivities with our game. We just want to put a good product out there and at the end of the day my nonnegotiable is that you work your tail off and have a great attitude."

CSU Soccer Notebook

How to Follow
Game Live Stats: https://csura.ms/SOCStats
Game Live Stream: https://csura.ms/Live (Mountain West Network) + Evoca TV Denver Local3 (Sunday)
Admission is free for all of the 2021 season

Promotions
- The first 30 students at each game will receive a soccer scarf. Friday is the green "Cam's Army" scarf, while Sunday's is the State Pride edition.

Last Time Out
- CSU took to the air for the first time, flying to California. On Friday, CSU fell 3-0 to Fresno State on an early goal and two late goals. Sunday almost resembled the same as the Rams trailed by one with 10 minutes left in regulation, but this time CSU tied it with eight minutes left and then scored six minutes later to defeat San Jose State, 2-1. It marked the first road win and first conference win of the season.

Lineup Shuffle Not Done
- After five games and five starting lineups, the Rams utilized the same starting XI for three straight games, but then switched it up again for the San Jose State game and it resulted in a win. Only one Ram (Kenady Leighton) has started all nine games. Page 3 has the breakdown of the starting lineups.

Series History
- The Rams aim to defeat the Tigers for the first time in series history. CC holds the advantage at 4-0-3, including a 2-0-2 record in Fort Collins. Meanwhile, the Rams own the series record against Air Force at 4-2-2, including a 3-1-1 at home. Full series history and last meeting box scores are on page seven.

"C" Badger
- After a team vote, captains were picked prior to game one and the results were all seniors; Sam Studt, Haylee Blach and Baylee Bedard.

- Studt has started 48 of her 52 career games. Blach has started all 15 career games at CSU. Bedard has started 28 of 38 games played since arriving in 2018.

Tiger Notes
- CC has averaged 0.55 goals and conceded 1.64 during its first 11 games. Within the conference, CC is third in shots, but 10th in goals. Its lone conference win came at home last weekend against Nevada who were pinned to finish last.

- The Tigers were picked to finish in sixth place – three spots ahead of the Rams – in the MW coaches' preseason poll.

Falcon Notes
- Mia Otero became the first Falcon in 10 years to post a hat-trick last weekend in the 3-0 win over UNLV. She earned MW Freshman of the Week honors. However, AFA then went scoreless against Nevada on Sunday.

- In the preseason coaches' poll, the Falcons were picked to finish 11th. Air Force split the SJSU/FS series ala the Rams with the win against the Spartans. Air Force has the least number of corners attempted in the league this season.

Team Connections w/ Tigers
- Kendra Gibson went to Grandview HS with CC's Caylin Lyubenko and Coley Lyubenko. Kendra and Caylin won state championships in 2018 and 2019. Kendra and Coley won in 2016.

- Kenady Leighton (Sheldon HS) faced off against Riley Prillwitz (Sunset HS) twice in 2016 with their respective high schools each winning one game. Also, Leighton played with CC's Aspen Jeter in the Thorns Academy.

- Sam Studt and Alex Sandoval played one year together at Mountain Range HS

Team Connections w/ Falcons
- Rachel Hall played with Jennifer McFadden at San Juan Hills HS and both played club ball for the Pateadores Development Academy. "One of my friends since forever" - Hall. They were on same team when they were five years old.

- Haylee Blach at Regis Jesuit as a senior played opposite of Keelyn Osoba as a sophomore at Rock Canyon in 2016.

- Amanda Green played with twins Cammi and Cassi Bych at Desert Vista HS

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

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Kaitlyn Abrams

Gracie Armstrong

Baylee Bedard

Haylee Blach

Amanda Green

Rachel Hall

Kenady Leighton

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