Colorado State University Athletics
Colorado State
#2 Utah State
Rams Go For Gold
11/3/2023 1:10:00 PM | Women's Soccer
Aggies stand in the way of first conference championship
FORT COLLINS- Colorado State (12-5-4) will faceoff with Utah State (13-7-1) for the Mountain West Championship at noon on Saturday in Laramie, Wyo. The winner will secure a bid to the NCAA tournament which starts later next week.
Colorado State is coming off of a thrilling semifinal win over top-seeded San Diego State on Wednesday. A scoreless affair after 110 minutes led the teams to penalty kicks to decide who would advance to Saturday. Three true freshmen scored the trio of kicks which sent the Rams to the final: Sofia Coulombe, Mia Casey and Taite DeLange. Meanwhile goalkeeper Shayna Ross stopped a crucial shot which would have given the Aztecs the lead.
Saturday will be the Rams' first appearance in the conference championship with a chance to punch their ticket to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. Utah State will also be playing for its first conference championship.
These two teams met in the first round of the Mountain West Championships in 2021, Keeley Hagen's first season and the team's second trip to the postseason. The Aggies would go on to win 1-0 and serve the Rams their only official postseason loss.
When the Rams traveled to Logan earlier this season, the squads battled through a scoreless 89 minutes until the Aggies found the back of the net with 28 seconds remaining to pick up the win and a crucial three points in the standings. Colorado State played with just 10 players for more than 45 minutes as Liv Stutzman was ejected after receiving her second caution during the first half.
Wednesday marked the 21st match played on the year for the Rams, the most in a single season in program history. Nine Rams players set the record for single-season matches played by a player: Avery Vander Ven, Hale Otto, Katy Coffin, Ali Yoshida, Kaitlyn Abrams, Bridget Arnold, Kenady Leighton, DeLange and Shayna Ross. Three more will reach their 21st appearance on Saturday: Olivia Fout, Stutzman and Casey.
A Rams win on Sunday will not only send them to the NCAA Tournament, but also give them a record-setting 13th on the campaign. The championship match will be available by stream at themw.com/watch.
