POCATELLO, Idaho -- In front of a crowd of over 600 people, the Idaho State soccer team opened the 2015 season Friday afternoon at Davis Field against Missouri State from the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bengals battled the Bears in their first-ever meeting for a tough for 90 minutes before falling 2-1.
Missouri State scored in the first two minutes of the game and led 1-0 at halftime. Sophomore forward
Maria Sanchez tied the game at one apiece with a goal in the 66th minute but MSU scored the go-ahead game-winner in the 77nd minute to seal the victory.
"Like we just talked about with coach, it's a gut check type of a thing," said senior goalkeeper
Sheridan Hapsic. "All over the field we lacked a little bit of effort toward the end, and that's what caught us with a goal getting scored in the last 13 minutes. It's unacceptable. We're going to learn from it and not let it happen again, especially on Davis Field."
Missouri State out shot ISU 15-14, nine of which came in the second half for the Bears. Idaho State was able to fire off nine shots on goal to Missouri State's six, but the Bengals were unable to capitalize on their opportunities. Hapsic, who played all 90 minutes in the season opener, tallied four saves.
Despite the outcome, Head Coach
Allison Gibson mentioned several positives that came out of the match, with her main frustration being the lack of effort she saw from her squad in the closing minutes.
"We made some good adjustments after halftime," said Gibson. "I thought when we did the right thing, we played well, we played to our strengths in our system and we did what we wanted to accomplish. I think the biggest detractor for me was just our lack of effort in that last eight to 10 minutes. It was not acceptable, and it was not the Idaho State soccer style."
The Bengals look to even their record as they head out on the road to play UC Irvine on Monday, August 24 at 8 p.m. (MST). Idaho State will be back in Pocatello to host Cal State Fullerton next Friday, August 28 at 4 p.m. at Davis Field.
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