POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State soccer concluded preseason play with a 2-1 loss to the visiting Westminster College at Davis Field Friday afternoon. The Bengals out shot the Griffins 16-12 and held a 6-3 advantage in corner kicks, but tallied just one goal, coming from the foot of
Brooke Kortekaas.
"The biggest thing was just not being patient and taking quality care of our opportunities," Head Coach
Allison Gibson said. "Those opportunities, as I tell them, those 16 shots or those nine shots on goal, are critical. They're like your bank account. If you just let them fly and let money go you don't get anything for it."
Westminster's Emma Heyn opened the scoring in the 13th minute after capitalizing on a blocked shot in the penalty box. Her teammate Ellie Echeverio fired from 12 yards out, but
Tristen Spooner stepped into the lane and the ball ricocheted towards the right post of ISU's goal. Heyn was the first to the ball and secured the lead with a top-shelf shot over ISU's
Katie Hogarth.
Idaho State continued to keep pressure on WC's goalkeeper Hillary Weixler, who finished the game with eight saves. The payoff came six minutes into the second half as Kortekaas took a deep shot from just outside the right end of the penalty box. The tailing shot cleared Weixler's reach and found the left side of the goal in the 51st minute of play.
The game remained scoreless for 32 minutes before the Griffins' Gabriella Riche delivered Westminster the deciding goal. The ball was played deep into the offensive zone before Riche worked her way behind the defensive line. She dribbled near the goal box from the left side, drawing ISU's
Laule'a Akana-Phillips out of the goal to cut down the angle. Riche shot the ball just past the reach of ISU's diving netminder from 12 yards out in the 83rd minute of play. All three goals were unassisted.
"
Tristen Spooner came to play in that second half and
Makena Bambei is just a constant leader and hard worker for us," Gibson said. "I think that the freshmen center backs, you know, are doing a really good job. They just need to learn that they have to be more vocal and they have to work on, you know, kind of that communication. They came out in the second half totally doing that and I think it made all the difference in the world."
The majority of the Bengals shots came from
Meaghan Bare, who tallied six attempts with four on goal.
Christina Krieger,
Lauren McGahie and
Corinne Sanderson each recorded two shots on the day and Kortekaas, Bambei,
Brittany Garrett and
Kenya Sherman all shot once.
Idaho State featured both goalkeepers on roster once again with Hogarth earning the start before being relieved by Akana-Phillips to start the second period of play. Both allowed one goal to pair with a save for Hogarth and two for Akana-Phillips.
The Bengals conclude the preseason with a 3-2 record after going undefeated in Costa Rica and falling at home twice. The team recorded goals in every game for a total of 17 in five matches.
The Bengals begin regular-season play on the road next week as they travel to El Paso, Texas for a late night game against UTEP. They also play the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M. Sunday, Aug. 26. The team returns to Davis Field Aug. 30 for a clash with Wyoming.
"We learned a lot today," Gibson said. "We learned a lot this week, probably more so than we've learned all preseason, about ourselves."
