Box Score
BOISE, Idaho – In the first three years of her career, senior forward
Rachel Strawn averaged two goals per season. The Roy, Utah native knew that wouldn't cut it her senior season and spent most of the offseason working on finishing at the goal. Her hard work has paid off as she has already scored three goals just two games into the season. Strawn scored her third goal of the 2012 campaign in ISU's 2-0 victory over New Mexico State Sunday. Strawn eluded the defender in the middle of the box and took a shot from 15 yards out for the goal at the 62:33 mark.
“Rachel decided that with this being her final year, she was really going to step it up this season,” ISU Head Coach
Allison Gibson said. “This was the first summer that she stayed in Pocatello and I saw her out on the field almost every day working on improving her game. I think she's running on a lot of confidence right now and just needs to keep it going.”
Sophomore
Amanda Ellsworth scored Idaho State's first goal of the game and her first goal of the season at the 54:41 mark, bringing her career total to eight. During the contest, Ellsworth recorded three shots with two on goal.
Overall ISU notched nine shots with four on goal while the Aggies posted 14 shots with three on goal. Sophomore goal keeper
Maria Dela Cruz recorded two saves in 45 minutes of play while freshman goal keeper
Sheridan Hapsic posted one save in 45 minutes.
This was the third meeting between ISU and NMSU and the Bengals remain undefeated against the Aggies with the series going to 2-0-1 in ISU's favor. ISU tied the Aggies 1-1 last season.
“We knew going into this game that we could play with them,” Gibson said. “We had another year to become an older and more experienced team after tying with them last season. Getting that first goal in the second half really set the tone for us and we got an even bigger boost from the second goal a few minutes later but we really held on for dear life in the final eight minutes.”
Idaho State is now 2-0 on the season while New Mexico State falls to 0-2.
“We knew going into this weekend that this tournament was going to be a good challenge,” Gibson said. “With North Dakota State we didn't have much to go on other than their stats from last season. We knew we were going to have our hands full but I think the win on Friday gave us a little bit of confidence for today.”
The Bengals return to action in the season's home opener against Minot State Saturday, Aug. 25 at 1 p.m.
We Are Your Bengals
