Oct. 24, 2003
Stats
Pocatello, ID--Heather Jones scored her second goal of the season in the 16th minute and the Idaho State defense took over from there as the Bengals won their second straight Big Sky Conference game and remained in contention for a Big Sky Tournament berth with a 1-0 win over Portland State Friday night at PGE Park.
Jones, a senior from Murray, UT, took a through pass from Janel Smith and outran the defense towards the goal. From there Jones had a one-on-one opportunity against goalkeeper Nikki Brooks and beat her with a shot to the upper right corner for a 1-0 ISU lead just 15:25 into the contest.
"The goal was a ball that was won in midfield and was fed forward in the middle seam by Janel Smith to Heather Hunt, who timed her run perfectly, went one-on-one with the goalkeeper and slotted the ball to the upper right perfectly," Head Coach Gordon Henderson said.
From there the defense took over. ISU limited the Vikings to just one shot in the first half as they took a 1-0 lead into the locker room. PSU stepped up the pressure in the second half, but Shannon Boyle made three saves and the ISU defense forced seven off-sides as the Bengals won their fourth game of the season away from Davis Field.
"Obviously we were very pleased with the win," Henderson added. "It was a very important game for both teams. We had a great game plan and I think we executed it to perfection. Our game plan going in was for this not to be a pretty game, to get the lead and defend the lead and I think that we did that very well."
"One of the things we talked about as a team, and I talked to the press about, was not that we weren't scoring goals, but not allowing the first goal. This was one of our best defensive displays in a long time. Basically we got the lead, then sat back and tried to make it tough for Portland State. PSU is a fine side and basically for us to come and win on their field, on the artificial turf they play, is just huge.
"All it does right now is, it puts us back in the hunt. It's still important for us to get wins, because if we turn around and lose our next two games, it doesn't do much. We need to be excited about this win, then get ready for Sacramento State."
With the win ISU improved to 6-8-1 overall and 2-2 in Big Sky Conference play, while Portland State fell to 5-9-1 and 0-2-1. The Bengals will try to keep their win streak going when they travel to Sacramento, CA, to face Sacramento State, who tied conference leader Weber State on Friday, 0-0.
