Utah State has won the Mountain West Conference title and punched its ticket to the NCAA women’s soccer tournament.
The Aggies beat Colorado State 1-0 in Saturday’s final behind Kate Christian’s 78th-minute goal.
“This is what Kate does best, this is what our kids do best, is find a way,” USU coach Manny Martins said. “We knew it was going to be difficult, but we knew we were going to have one, or two, or maybe three opportunities and we just needed to be clinical.”
Utah State’s defense did the rest.
“Our defense has just been our cornerstone … and they’ve just kept getting better and better,” Martins said.
The victory captured USU’s first Mountain West soccer title. The Aggies are headed to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2012. Utah State will learn its tournament opponent during Monday afternoon’s selection show.