Bengal Soccer Heading to SLC for Skirmish With Utes

Pocatello, ID - After a hard-fought offensive battle that ultimately ended in a draw, Idaho State Soccer is gearing up for a road trip south to Salt Lake City, where they will face the Utah Utes in a mid-afternoon matinee on Sunday, September 15, at 4:00pm.

Despite the close proximity, this will only be the fourth time ISU and Utah have faced off, and the first since 2011. These skirmishes have historically been largely competitive, with two of four requiring OT to determine a winner and a 2007 battle requiring two extra periods.

The Bengals are coming off of a Thursday night slugfest where they outshot Southern Utah 16-11, but neither team was able to get one home. Each team had a made goal undone by offsides penalties at separate points in the game, and ISU had two apparent goals clang off the side of the goalpost, showing that they were not afraid to be aggressive. 

Utah and ISU have multiple familiar foes this season, with the Utes facing the Bengals' most recent matchup, Southern Utah, in an exhibition match to start the season. They have also recorded a 7-1 win over fellow Big Sky institution Weber State and lost 0-2 to longtime out-of-conference adversary Utah Valley.

Sunday will feature the first of two remaining non-conference games for the orange and black before they open Big Sky play against Northern Colorado on Sept. 29.

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SCOUTING THE UTES
Current Record: 3-2-2
2023 Record: 6-8-6
Last Match: vs. Arizona (W, 1-0)
Last Match vs. ISU: Sept. 18, 2011 (UU W, 3-1)
Series History: UU leads 4-0
Notable Players: Graduate Student Taliana Kaufusi and senior Katie O'Kane lead the Utes offensively, having scored ten of the team's twelve goals to date.
Defensively, Utah has played two goalkeepers with near-identical minutes. Junior Erin Gibbs and senior Kasey Wardle have split time in the net and have allowed four goals each while recording twelve and seven saves, respectively.

BENGAL BITES

• Trinity Hale has tightened her grip on the conference lead in multiple goalkeeper categories, and is beginning to make waves in all of Division 1. She is currently tied for the best save percentage (.818) in the Big Sky, but has one more game played than second place. In addition, she has now claimed sole possession of first place in shutouts per game (.571) and is the only goalie in the conference allowing less than a full goal per outing (.831). Hale's four shutouts are part of a tie for 12th in all of D1 Soccer, and she is the highest ranked freshman in the division in that category.

• Idaho State's 16 shots attempted against Southern Utah narrowly missed out on a top-10 single-game performance in the Big Sky this season. The Bengals currently hold two spots on that list with 25 shots against North Dakota (3rd) and 18 against Oregon State (T-9th).