The Vandal soccer team is struggling to find consistency as they lost their second straight match in a loss against the Grand Canyon Antelopes.
Grand Canyon hosted Idaho in Phoenix, Ariz. Sunday for the second matchup between the two teams this season. The Antelopes shutout the Vandals 2-0, only allowing the Vandals to take three shots on goal.
The Vandals won the first meeting between the teams in a 3-1 victory Sept. 22 on Guy Wicks Field. It was their first win of the season. With this loss, the Vandals WAC record drops to 3-3 — but they remain in fourth place.
Idaho came out strong in the match getting a shot off the foot of freshman forward Kaysha Darcy in the first two minutes of the match. The Antelopes countered the Vandals with a pair of shots on the Vandal goal. Starting goalie Marina Siegl earned herself two saves before the first goal of the match in the 28th minute.
Entering the match, Siegl was coming off of a weekend where she played more than 170 minutes and was credited with 20 saves. On Sunday’s game, Siegl and freshman goalkeeper Torell Stewart went back to sharing equal amounts of time in front of the net, each playing a half.
Going into the half, the Vandals trailed behind the Antelopes in shots. The Antelopes held the Vandals to five shots to their nine.
During the second half of play, the Vandals did not fare much better on offense or defense.
The Antelopes scored the second goal of the match in the 89th minute. The Vandals had three opportunities to score in the last 10 minutes of the match. Darcy missed a header off a corner kick from junior Katie Baran. The shot sailed high over the goal.
Two more shots by the Vandals in the last five minutes of the match gave hope to the team. But they were ultimately unable to score and the match ended in the second straight shutout loss for the Vandals.
“We lost
to the better team today,” Idaho coach Pete Showler said. “We didn’t take care of what we need to and as a consequence of that the result is what it is.”
Showler has stressed the fact that, in order for his team to find consistent success, the team needs to play to its fullest potential for the full 90 minutes of play but that game has yet to come.
The greatest success so far this season for the Vandals is a two-game winning streak for the first two WAC matches of the season.
Idaho returns home to take on the Cal State-Bakersfield Roadrunners on Friday at Guy Wicks Field. The Roadrunners defeated the Vandals 1-0 on Oct. 6 in Bakersfield.
Curtis Ginnetti can be reached at arg-sports.uidaho.edu