The Idaho Vandals women’s soccer team settled for another draw after squandering a lead against Northern Colorado on Friday, Oct. 24. Despite taking the lead in the 40th minute, the Vandals couldn’t hold on and finished with a 2-2 draw, moving their record to 5-4-8 (2-1-4 in conference).
The Vandals were eight minutes away from a win that would have secured them a spot in the Big Sky tournament. However, their failure to clear the ball and capitalize on numerous scoring opportunities ultimately cost them.
Graduate midfielder Annika Farley expressed frustration with her team’s performance and composure in crucial moments.
“We have a trend of doing this, where we’re in the lead and then not finishing out the game — it’s really disappointing,” Farley said. “It’s just being game smart, clearing the ball out when we get it up, keeping the ball up, connecting passes. Today, it was just messy. We were not sticking to the game plan. It is an all-around team failure.”
With the Vandals leading 2-1 in the 82nd minute, Northern Colorado sophomore Sunnie Yarnell applied pressure, forcing a bad clearance. She collected the ball in the 18-yard box and floated it past goalkeeper Paula Flores to equalize for the Bears.
This season, Idaho has struggled to close out games when given the opportunity. That was the case in their 1-1 draw against Portland State last game, and that same issue came back to haunt the Vandals again.
The game began with the Vandals on the front foot, but the Bears opened the scoring in the 13th minute. Sophomore midfielder Ava Marshall played a looping ball over the defense into the path of dynamic junior forward Lexi Tuite, who touched the ball around redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Paula Flores and tapped it into the open net.
The Vandals soon gained momentum and won a corner kick from the right side. In the 35th minute, junior midfielder Tori Peters sent in a cross that found the head of Farley, who headed it past the keeper to tie the game.
Five minutes later, the Vandals earned another corner and cashed in again. Peters sent the ball in from the left and found junior midfielder Sara Rodgers, who headed it in for her fifth goal of the season and third in three games.
Peters was a huge presence for the Vandals with her relentless energy, and her set-piece skill provided the spark Idaho needed to take the lead.
“Coming in, you have to make a difference,” Peters said. “You have to keep the energy up, it goes along with how soccer goes. Set pieces is something we work on constantly. We always practice it and just focusing and getting good service. I know Annika and Sara will finish them, so it was a big part of it.”
After dominating the first half, the Vandals kept the pressure on and applied pressure for an insurance goal. However, their lack of quality in the final third prevented them from putting the game away, and the Bears hung around just long enough to salvage a result.
Head coach Jeremy Clevenger sees this as an opportunity for growth as the Vandals hope to make a push for the Big Sky tournament.
“It’s a team that needs to learn through that,” Clevenger said. “We were able to come back against Eastern and do that to them. There’s a lot of good on this team, but these are a lot of learning lessons for our group, and hopefully it makes us better.”
With their season on the line, the Vandals will welcome Northern Arizona to the P1FCU Kibbie Dome on senior day, hoping to secure a win and clinch a postseason berth. The Vandals and Lumberjacks will kick off Sunday, Oct. 26, at noon.
“I hope this game fires us up going into Sunday, because if we don’t win, we’re not going to the tournament and the season is going to be over,” Farley said. “Hopefully that is what it takes to get people to fire it up, to play the full 90. Even if we lose, I’ll still be proud if we just play a full 90 minutes. It’s really disappointing all around when there are individual efforts that I feel like are trying really hard, but as a full team, we’re just not clicking.”