Idaho the latest victim of Illinois State’s onslaught
The Vandals’ final road trip of the season proved to be troublesome, as the Missouri Valley Conference regular season champion Illinois State defeated Idaho 8-0.
Illinois State (13-5 overall, 6-0 Missouri Valley Conference) came into Thursday riding a five-game winning streak and had won each of their six conference games this season by a combined score of 14-4.
On the opposite side, the Vandals are winless in their final five games of the season, including three straight losses.
The Redbirds were ranked 55th in the country and it showed as they netted five goals in the first half.
“We didn’t defend well as a team and they did a great job finishing their chances tonight,” Idaho coach Derek Pittman said.
The loss drops the Vandals to 4-14-2 this season (4-4-2 Big Sky), including back-to-back losses to Sacramento State (9-9, 4-5) and Portland State (8-5-4, 5-2-2) in their final two Big Sky games last weekend.
The Vandals currently sit tied at fourth place in the Big Sky with Southern Utah (7-6-3, 4-3-2) and will now play the waiting game to see if the four wins they accumulated in Big Sky play will be enough to clinch one of the three remaining berths in the Big Sky Tournament.
After the five goal performance in the first half, the Redbirds were able to net three more goals in the second half.
If the Vandals are able to find their way into the Big Sky Tournament, Pittman said they can look at this defeat at the hands of a potential NCAA Tournament team as a learning experience.
Regular season champion and tournament host Montana, Portland State and Eastern Washington all have already clinched berths in the Big Sky tournament. Idaho is currently tied for fourth with Southern Utah (7-6-3, 4-3-2). The top six teams in the Big Sky will make up the field for the tournament kicking off Nov. 6.
“If you don’t respect the details of the game and work hard for every minute, then these results can happen,” Pittman said. “We still have a long way to go … But we are headed in the right direction.”
Joshua Gamez can be reached at [email protected]