POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State soccer team earned its first win of the season in thrilling fashion, defeating visiting Houston Baptist 4-2 Sunday afternoon at Davis Field. The Bengals demanded control throughout the match and put the pressure on the Huskies as they fired off 30 shots with 16 on goal.
"It feels really good," Head Coach
Allison Gibson said. "It's been a long time coming."
In the first half alone ISU (1-1-0) took 20 shots to Houston Baptist's (0-2-0) nine, forcing HBU goalkeeper Alanis Guevara into 10 saves. Although it was the Bengals that controlled the majority of play, it was HBU that broke free for the first score. The Huskies' Sabriah Spencer weaved among ISU defenders and broke free, hitting a nearly perfectly placed shot just above junior
Shawna Hennings' outstretched hands in the 25th minute.
However, ISU's offensive pressure paid off in the 33rd minute as sophomore
Meaghan Bare served a beautiful cross from left field to freshman
Michaela Didericksen who knocked the ball to the right bottom corner of the goal. Just six minutes later, Didericksen dribbled along the 18-yard box and smacked the ball just under the crossbars above the outstretched hands of Guevara for her second career goal. Houston Baptist was unable to counter, and the Bengals headed into half with a 2-1 lead.
"[Michaela] struggled a bit against Boise State with confidence…when she went in that last time I just said, 'Do what you do,'" Gibson said. "'You're the two-year leading goalscorer in the state of Utah. Do what you do out there.' So to see her do that and get those goals, I was so happy for her."
For the first 25 minutes of the second half, neither team was able to break free for a score, but it was again HBU that struck first as the Huskies' Ellee Hall finished a cross from Jessa LeBlanc to the left side of the goal to tie the score 2-2. Less than three minutes later, ISU countered as freshman
Jazmin Lopez found freshman
Brooke Kortekaas in traffic; Kortekaas beat HBU's keeper and easily knocked the ball into the back right corner.
Just over two minutes later, that same freshmen duo gave Idaho State its fourth goal. Lopez again found Kortekaas who finished the ball from the left side in the 78th minute.
"It was unbelievable the way we moved the ball," Gibson said. "That's a great defensive mechanism. If we have the ball, they don't, so we were able to keep the possession the majority of the game. I think that was probably our strongest point."
The Bengals once again have a quick turnaround as they host Wyoming Tuesday, Aug. 23 at 4 p.m. at Davis Field.
