Home Win Feels Grand for Rams

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Oct 5

12:00 p.m.

Women's Soccer

vs UNLV

Oct 9

4:00 p.m.

Women's Soccer

vs Colorado College

Oct 12

4:00 p.m.

Women's Soccer

vs Air Force

Oct 16

8:00 p.m.

Women's Soccer

at Fresno State

Oct 19

1:00 p.m.

Women's Soccer

at San Jose State

There is an art to set pieces, not that Keeley Hagen is in a hurry to give out trade secrets.

They have been Louvre worthy of late for her Colorado State women's soccer team, with the Rams' past four goals all the product of them. In Sunday's official grand opening of the Rams Soccer Field, the one was all the team needed to win their first home game of the year and second consecutively with a 1-0 decision over California Baptist.

"I think it's the discipline and the details, and the players are being rewarded," Hagen said, her team now 2-1-1 on the season. "Set pieces can make or break a game. Every opportunity you get is a goal-scoring chance. Right now, we're putting them in the back of the net, and we'll take it."

What Hagen would say about the people she chooses in those situations – mainly Avery Vander Ven on free kicks, Mia Casey on corners – is they do possess a knack for the touch, though the harder part may be on the other end – being able to track an airborne ball and direct it toward the cage.

Vander Ven likes her part, and Liv Stutzman enjoys being on the other end. For Vander Ven, it isn't just willy-nilly putting a ball up in an area. She's looking for certain things. So is Stutzman, and in the 19^th minute, they both saw the same thing, exchanging a knowing look.

The delivery was so perfect, Stutzman just had to meet it for her first tally of the season.

"I think it's just mentality, wanting to be the one who wants it more," Stuzman said about her first of the season, the sixth of her career which ties her for eighth on the career list. "We have a special connection; I see her, and she sees me, I know where it's headed.

"It was a perfect ball. I couldn't have asked for a better ball. I just had to be there to deflect. That one was a perfect ball, and I was just on the end of it."

In the end, both heaped praise on what the other did to lead to the result, deflecting any of the credit.

Either way, it was the first opening-half goal for the team on the season, one which stood the test of time, one which emboldens Vander Ven's belief those attempts, when given the proper, deft touch, make the Rams more dangerous.

"I'm trying to set up different runners. If I can pick out a specific runner, I think that makes it a better scoring chance," Vander Ven said. "I'm really trying to pick an area, and I'm trusting my players to make a run in that area. That goal was all Liv."

It was the second assist of the season for Vander Ven, the seventh of her career which places her third all-time in the category.
She is a rather offensive-minded defender. Give her an opening, she will push the ball forward and get involved in the attack. Give her a free kick, she's looking for a payoff.

"For sure. I really look forward to them, and I like when I can go up for corners as well and try to put something on the net," she said. "Free kicks, we go over sets twice a week, the day before a game. I'll come out and we do extra time as a team. We talk about getting 1 percent better every day, and to get 1 percent better, you take 15 minutes a day, so I come out and work on my long balls."

Colorado State applied a lot of pressure the first 45 minutes, but not as much in the second half. After putting six of 10 shots on goal in the opening stanza, the Rams only had six shots in the final 45, none on net.

Stutzman said they play off a feel in the game, and in the second half, they had a hard time finding their chances, even keeping possession. Improving is on the table, and Hagen viewed it from a positive angle.

"They made some tactical adjustment sin the second half, so credit to them. It took us a while to get adjusted," she said. "Credit to them, they're trying to get a win for the weekend, and they definitely outplayed us on some first and second balls and we felt that. Toward the middle of the end, we started winning those balls. It's all those little details. They tested us in a different way, which is awesome, because that will get us ready for conference."

The lone goal was all they needed as the Rams posted their third clean sheet of the season, the 20^thin the career of goalie Shayna Ross, extending her program record. There wasn't much for her to handle most of the game, but the Lancers did have some strong looks in the final four minutes of the contest, forcing Ross to come up with a clutch save – one of three on the day – to keep the board clean.

After 10 shutouts last year, Ross and the back end of the Colorado State formation have been up to the challenge in the early going. The shutouts were a record for the program, and Sunday provided the Rams a chance to do something they could never do again.

"This is kind of its own motivator," Hagen said. "We said we have a chance to make history today and while it is another game and a different opponent and we're trying to get better game to game, this is an opportunity to put this team and their stamp on their program, so hey, let's get a W for our grand opener. We certainly used that as a motivator; we had a great crowd. We're going to take any motivator we can get."

Though they officially played on the field a week earlier, the grand opening was staged for this day specifically because students were back on campus. The crowd showed up, and the result became the second perfect set piece of the afternoon.

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Liv Stutzman

Avery Vander Ven

Kacie Laurie

Lauren Wheeler

Players Mentioned

Mia Casey

Shayna Ross

Liv Stutzman

Avery Vander Ven

Players Mentioned

Mia Casey

Shayna Ross

Liv Stutzman

Avery Vander Ven

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