WAIPAHU, OAHU- It was only fitting that
Nikolina Musto scored the game-winning goal in her home state. The Bengal sophomore nailed a penalty kick in the 96
th minute to lead the Bengals to a 1-0 win over BYU Hawaii in the first game of the Outrigger Classic on Thursday evening.
The Bengals dominated possession, out shooting BYU Hawaii 22-3.
Shawna Hennings played the entire game in goal and came up with two saves.
"It was amazing and it was nice to see how proud they are," Musto said on scoring game-winning goal in front of her family and friends. "It was nice for our team to win and it just feels good."
With the score tied at zero after 45 minutes of play, the Bengals went into the locker room knowing the effort had to be better. After a coach
Allison Gibson pep talk at the break about executing the game-plan, the Bengals followed through with the plan to earn the win.
"We had more energy in the second half and everybody knew that if they didn't do their job they were going to get pulled off," Musto said. "Everybody did their job real well and the energy was great."
Gibson added that after halftime she was pleased with how the team played.
"They came out and stuck to the game plan," Gibson said. "That was the biggest takeaway. When we hit the lull we were able to come back out of it which we weren't able to do against Wyoming."
Gibson singled out the midfield and defense for holding BYU Hawaii to only three shots and the play of freshman forward
Brooke Kortekaas.
"Brook was unbelievable," Gibson said. "Her effort was tremendous. I thought Kat Roberts did a great job in the midfield. Nikki did a great job in the midfield and then our backline was solid. Three shots was all we gave up in 95 minutes so I am impressed with that."
Idaho State plays the University of Hawai'i on Saturday at 11 p.m. mountain time.
