Experimentation continued, but this time victory did not follow and Idaho soccer fell at the hands of Gonzaga 1-0 Sunday afternoon at the SprinTurf in its second spring match of the year.
Tony Marcolina | Argonaut Idaho defender Chelsie Breen gets possession of the ball during Sunday's game against Gonzaga on the SprinTurf. Idaho lost 1-0 against Gonzaga and will play a double-header at 10 a.m. Sunday against Washington State and Central Washington at 2:30 p.m.
Days before the match Gonzaga requested that instead of two 45-minute halves, there be three 30-minute periods, because of roster depth issues.
Play throughout the three 30-minute periods was physical and back-and-forth, with both teams taking advantage of phases of momentum.
But the Bulldogs broke through in the second of the three periods during an Idaho defensive lapse with a shot from outside of the box that hit the back of the net.
Meanwhile, the Vandals couldn’t capitalize on numerous goal-scoring opportunities inside the box throughout the match.
“It just wasn’t to be today,” Idaho coach Pete Showler said. “We were controlling patches of the game and then they came back at us. It was end to end stuff.”
Idaho tinkered with formations, playing a 4-3-3 with three forwards up top in an attempt to take advantage of the midfield and the forward depth the team possesses. Jill Flockhart and Erica Hart joined Chelsea Small up top.
The attack was not lacking on the day, but the finishing wasn’t there.
“It’s getting there, it’s a new formation for us so of course it’s going to take a while to figure out to play well,” said forward Annie Milard, who came off the bench. “I think we’re getting a good handle on it, it will just take time. Their keeper just had an amazing game. We attacked well when we had the chance.”
On the defensive, Showler said the two withdrawn forwards, Flockhart and Hart, then drop off to the midfield, which forms a 4-5-1.
“We tried lots of variations in forward, we tried five, or six or seven different players. We just got to keeping on them understand what runs to make and when. We’ll persist with it. We can change things up,” Showler said.
Idaho’s formation change was a bit of a surprise for Gonzaga and its coaches, who defeated the Vandals 3-0 in their last meeting in the fall, but they also know that this is what spring is for.
“Their overall team shape was a different form. They are a very good team. We knew coming in today we had to be organized defensively, we talked about that a lot,” Derek Pittman, Gonzaga coach, said. “They combined very well, they created a number of quality chances, that our keeper had to come up with some good saves.”
Showler said the team struggled with maintaining possession and getting the ball out wide on a consistent basis, something it usually does well.
The spring schedule continues April 1 when the Vandals host Washington State and Central Washington in a double header that starts at 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. on the SprinTurf.
Idaho lost to Washington State 2-1 last season at Guy Wicks Field on a sudden death overtime goal.
Sean Kramer can be reached at [email protected]