Soccer: Battle for Big Sky

Hayden Crosby | Argonaut University of Idaho assistant track coach and Vandal hall-of-famer Angela Whyte is training for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Whyte finished sixth in the 100-meter hurdles at the International Association of Athletics World Championships. Director of the Martin institute Bill Smith said the Olympics are important even in a local community.

The Idaho women’s soccer team is No. 1 in the Big Sky. The Vandals earned a share of the regular season conference championship with Sunday’s 4-0 win over Southern Utah. With a win or a draw in Friday’s game, the title is theirs alone.

Eastern Washington is the only team still in the running for regular season champs.

“We’re already regular season conference champs, but we want to win it outright — we don’t want to share with anyone,” Idaho head coach Derek Pittman said.

The Vandals play Idaho State 3 p.m. Friday at Guy Wicks Field.

Idaho’s last matchup against Idaho State marked its 100th win in program history.

Idaho won 2-1. Both goals were scored by senior forward Kavita Battan.

“Idaho State is a team that’s been up and down this season with some very good wins but also some uncharacteristic losses,” Pittman said. “They’re a high energy team that throws a lot of numbers forward to try and score.”

Pittman said the team needs to be sharp on defense.

“For us its about slowing down their offense and then just finishing the chances that we get,” Pitman said. “We need to clean up a few of the mistakes that we’ve made from the past weekend and we need to continue staying positive in and around the goal.”

Win, lose or draw, Idaho competes in the Big Sky Tournament beginning Nov. 2.

The winner of the regular season usually plays host in the tournament. However, officials have deemed Guy Wicks Field unsatisfactory.

Even if the Eagles fail to take a portion of the regular season title, Eastern Washington would likely play host for the tournament’s first game.

Ella Fredericks can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ellabfred

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