After a disappointing draw to start conference play against Weber State, the Vandals hit the road and headed southeast to take on in-state rival Idaho State University. The Vandals defeated the Bengals 4-0 to claim the first Battle of the Domes victory of 2023.
The Bengals came into the game 3-8 on the season. However, they won their conference opener against Eastern Washington and brought that momentum into the game against the Vandals. Despite that momentum, Idaho was on the front foot from the first whistle and got an early break through.
In the eighth minute, Idaho won a corner and senior outside back Alyssa Peters put in an in-swinging ball. It found the head of junior midfielder Jayd Sprague, who powered it past the outstretched arms of the goalkeeper and opened the scoring for the Vandals.
The Vandals kept the pressure on, and in the 17th minute, doubled their lead. Sophomore goalkeeper Kira Witte played a short goal kick which found junior midfielder Annika Farley. Farley then played the ball to senior midfielder Margo Schoesler, who played a looping ball over the defense to senior forward Jadyn Hanks. Hanks controlled the ball and rocketed it into the net for her first goal of the game.
Idaho controlled the rest of the half and took the 2-0 lead into the locker room. The first half was full of shots as the Vandals totaled 14 shots with six on goal. Idaho State had nine shots with seven of them on goal. Witte had seven saves in the first half to keep the Bengals off the score sheet.
The second half began like the first half ended, with end-to-end action and lots of shots for both teams. Idaho once again scored early in the half as it found the back of the next in the 61st minute to extend the lead even further.
Senior midfielder Hannah Alfaro received the ball on the edge of the box, where she made a move to get to the touch line. Alfaro crossed to Hanks, who tapped the ball into the net to push the Idaho lead to 3-0.
Not even a minute later, the Vandals put a fourth in the back of the net. Schoesler beat a defender and passed to sophomore Karli Yoshida-Williams, who put a ball to the top of the box. From there, Alfaro took a touch, got the ball on her right foot and riffled it into the top right corner.
Idaho saw out the last minutes and defeated the Bengals 4-0. It was not only the largest victory over Idaho State, but also the third-straight win over the Bengals.
This game was full of shots as Idaho finished with 23 and Idaho State finished with 21. Both teams took 10 of those shots on goal.
With the win, the Vandals improved to 6-2-2 and to 1-0-1 in conference, whereas the Bengals fell to 3-9 and 1-1 in conference. Idaho has struggled offensively in the last few games, so this was a huge momentum boost for the Vandals going into the meat of conference play.
The Vandals will be back home on Oct. 1 to take on the Montana Grizzlies at 1 p.m.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on X @JaydenBarfuss10