Idaho vs North Dakota
The Idaho soccer team (5-7-2, BSC 1-3-1) recorded their first conference win Sunday morning at North Dakota. Before the victory, the Vandals had dropped three of their last four matchups.
Idaho head coach Derek Pittman said in a news release the team’s ability to come together over the weekend was impactful.
“I thought our players did an excellent job this entire weekend of doing some soul searching and coming together as a whole group and grinding out a tough result on the road today,” Pittman said.
The Vandals opened up the scoring in the game. Redshirt freshman Taylor Brust put Idaho on the board with a first-half goal. The remainder of the first half didn’t see any more scoring action.
North Dakota tied the game at 1-1 in the second half, though Idaho quickly reclaimed the lead. Sophomore Myah Merino netted the go-ahead goal near the end of regulation.
Shot opportunities didn’t come in excess for the Vandals, but when they did shoot it was precise. Idaho took only six shots in the effort, with three being on goal.
Pittman said the team’s ability to persevere was well done.
“We were really scrappy and we did the things that were necessary. It wasn’t always pretty at times, but I think our kids did a great job to fight and scrap and claw was great,” Pittman said.
Next up for the Vandals is Montana 7 p.m. Friday in the Kibbie Dome.
Idaho vs Northern Colorado
The mighty Vandals (4-7-2, BSC 0-3-1) fell to Northern Colorado (9-5-0, BSC 3-2-0) Friday night 1-0.
Pittman said he is still proud of his team for their accomplishments.
“I think the biggest thing for me is that we challenged our players to be better this week defensively and I think we did that,” Pittman said. “I think we limited a very good Northern Colorado team to only a few chances. We were unlucky on the goal, but sometimes you have to earn your own luck and we didn’t do that today. We created enough chances to win, enough chances to score, but hats off to Northern Colorado and their effort to get
the results.”
The Bears scored the one and only goal of the game in the 43rd minute.
Junior keeper Makayla Presgrave’s had a total of six saves on the night. This ties up her personal record of the season. Junior defender Claire Johnson and sophomore defender Crosby MacKinnon held the Bears in the back line.
Pittman said he praised the two backers after the game
“I thought Claire Johnson played a fantastic game in the back,” Pittman said. “I thought Crosby MacKinnon did an excellent job. Again, the entire back line was much more organized. I thought freshman midfielder Hadley Sbrega was very good and even some of the players off the bench gave us some quality minutes. We just have to build this and get ready for North Dakota on Sunday”.
Zack Ozuna and Marisa Lloyd can be reached at [email protected]