Washington State Soccer Recap: Big Game from Nadia Cooper Gives Cougars a Tie Against Utah State

WSU escaped Logan with a 0-0 tie against the 7th ranked Aggies. Now they'll look to contend for the West Coast Conference crown as conference play is set to start.

Sep 7, 2024; Pullman, Washington, USA; Washington State Cougars mascot Butch (right) and Washington State Cougars head coach Jake Dickert lead the football team into Gesa Field at Martin Stadium for a game against the Texas Tech Red Raiders. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-Imagn Images / James Snook-Imagn Images

Washington State faced one of their biggest tests of the season last Thursday, when they travelled to Logan to take on 7th ranked Utah State. While the Cougars weren't able to leave with a win, a gritty defensive effort managed to get Washington State a tie against one of the top teams in the country, improving their record to 3-3-3 overall.

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Washington State kept pace with the Aggies for the first half of the game, with each team making five shots.  The Cougars forced 3 saves while Utah State forced 2.  The second half was all Aggies.  Utah State took 10 shots to Wazzu's 2, but the Cougars defense stepped up and made sure most of them missed the goal.  What did reach the wall came into contact with the iron wall of goalkeeper Nadia Cooper, who finished the night with 5 saves.  That performance earned her the WCC's Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season.

For the 2nd time this season, Nadia Cooper is your WCC Defensive Player of the Week! @SurprisedNadia made 5 saves against #7 Utah State and became the only keeper in the country to hold the top-10 side scoreless this season. WSU's 2nd top-10 shutout with Cooper in goal.#GoCougs pic.twitter.com/xjJLDFAGw8

— Washington State Soccer (@WSUCougarSoccer) September 23, 2024

While the Cougars didn't generate a ton of offense in last week's game, what they did manage came from most of the usual suspects.  Reagan Kotschau had 3 shots Thursday night, 2 of them on goal, while Rajanah Reed added another 2 shots.  Nathalie Lewis and Raniyah Burton also had a shot each.

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While a tie is never what you want to see, on the road against a team as good as the Aggies it's still a great result.  The Cougars will try to get back to winning, and goal scoring, on Saturday when they welcome the 2-4-4 San Diego Toreros to Pullman for WSU's first game of WCC play.