RIVERSIDE, Calif. - UC Riverside opened September with a return to the Inland Empire after splitting a pair of matches in the Pacific Northwest, playing to a 0-0 draw with Utah State on Thursday night at the UC Riverside Soccer Stadium. 

Cassia Souza was a wall between the posts for UCR on Thursday, seeing four early shots with three on frame. The sophomore made quick and easy work of all three, coming from point-blank range. 

Souza's fourth save of the night forced her to reach top shelf and concede an Aggie corner kick, but UCR's defense forced a shot out wide to keep the 2021 rematch scoreless. Souza, who made seven saves against the Aggies last year in Logan, made five in Thursday's return match in Riverside, including a crucial top shelf save in the 84th minute.

Offensive momentum shifted to the Highlanders just before the break as a wide shot from Daphane Mendez spurred back-to-back corner kicks, but nothing to show for it. 

Amelie Araya made her season debut on Thursday night for the Highlanders, logging 55 minutes off the bench. Araya entered for Natza Marin, who was shown a yellow halfway through the first half.

Kameron Henry threw two shots at Utah State in the first 15 minutes of the second half, but it was Alyssa Carranza coming up with the Highlanders' first shot on target in the 62nd minute.

UCR earned five of their seven corner kicks in the second half and was bailed out by the post twice in the final 10 minutes. 

UC Riverside will host its second Utah school of the weekend on Sunday when Weber State comes to town. The match, originally scheduled for 11:00 a.m., was moved up to 8:30 a.m. due to forecasted extreme heat across California. Admission is free for all UC Riverside women's soccer matches this season and live stats are available on GoHighlanders.com.