Most athletes don’t find themselves starting as a true freshman, but Idaho freshman goalkeeper Amanda Poertner has been defending the net all season with play that hasn’t gone unnoticed.
For the second time this season, Poertner was named Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week after not allowing a single goal all weekend, extending her streak of shutouts to three matches in a row.
“I thought overall Amanda Poertner didn’t have a whole lot to do throughout the (Sacramento State) game,” Idaho coach Derek Pittman said. “But when she was needed, she came up big and helped everything cleanly.”
Poertner and the Vandal defense haven’t allowed a goal in 303 straight minutes and have allowed just one goal to a Big Sky opponent (Marisa Sanchez of Idaho State, who happens to be a member of the Mexico national team) this year. It was Poertner’s sixth shutout of the season, which ties the school record for most in a season with Amanda Sandman (2007) and Liz Boyden (2010).
“Really proud of Amanda, but also really proud of the whole team,” Pittman said.
The numbers Poertner is putting up are some of the best in the Big Sky. The Fullerton, California, native has twice as many shutouts as the next closest goalkeeper and leads the Big Sky in goals against average with 0.25 in conference play.
Idaho (8-4-1, 4-0) is one of three undefeated teams in the conference and is tied with Eastern Washington (10-1-1, 4-0) for first. Northern Colorado (8-5, 3-0) is second.
The Vandals won’t play those two schools until the last two games of the regular season. This weekend the Vandals will play Montana 1 p.m. Sunday at Guy Wicks Field (4-7-2, 1-2-1).
The Grizzlies sit in seventh in the Big Sky. Last season, Idaho’s game at Montana went into overtime with the Grizzlies winning 1-0.
This is just the second time Idaho has ever opened conference play with four straight victories and the team has already doubled its win total from last year.
Montana will play Eastern Washington Friday while the Vandals will be off Friday, meaning the Grizzlies will play two of the teams in first place with just one day of rest in between. The Grizzlies are coming off a tie with Northern Arizona and a win over Southern Utah last weekend.
The Idaho-Montana game is Idaho’s “Pink Game” and the Vandals’ jerseys will be auctioned off after the match with the proceeds going to the local charity, Light a Candle Foundation.
Ben Evensen can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @BenE_VN