tflagstad@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - Walking off the field following their 1-1 draw with Eastern Washington, Idaho State's soccer players couldn't stop talking about Taylor Powell's game-tying goal.

Everyone had a slightly different take on the play, which happened right in front of the net in the middle of a logjam of players.

"I just saw a bunch of scrambling," said senior keeper Maren Eves-Williams.

Junior captain Jana Boehler, who tallied an assist on the play, added: "It was a lot of jumble, and then it hit me. I kind of shouldered it a little bit. Taylor was just there, and she kicked it, and it went in."

Heck, even Powell couldn't fully describe the equalizer, which came in the 88th minute off a Kilee Quigley corner kick.

"I don't really know," said Powell, a sophomore forward. "Jana told me she shouldered it to me. All of a sudden it was in front of me, and I volleyed it in. It went in, and it was really exciting."

However it happened, the late goal allowed the Bengals (2-7-4 overall, 0-0-1 Big Sky) to salvage a draw in their conference-opening match Thursday at Davis Field against the Eagles (2-7-3, 0-0-1). For almost all of the 110 minutes, Idaho State controlled the match, and without Powell's heroics that effort would've been for nothing.

The Bengals attempted 26 shots compared to Eastern Washington's eight, and most of the sustained action in the contest took place in Idaho State's attacking half.

Still, the Bengals' scoreless drought - which stood at 369 minutes entering the contest - lasted until 2:40 remained on the clock.

"It's really frustrating. I don't know if I need to change my socks or my underwear or just get a new lucky thing. I don't know," Boehler said. "It's frustrating. But we're the team that keeps pushing, which is good. A lot of teams will give up."

Despite Idaho State's domination, the Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the 32nd minute when senior midfielder Lillian Bourret scored on a shot from about 40 yards out.

After seemingly stifling an Eastern Washington charge, the Bengals' defenders turned around to start their counterattack, but nobody took the final step of completely clearing the ball. Bourret swooped in and launched a shot past a frozen Eves-Williams, who didn't react to the ball, thinking it was going wide.

"The ball got laid off. She was open, and she shot it," Eves-Williams said. "It went through a lot of people. I thought it was out, so I've just gotta learn to go to everything."

Idaho State spent the rest of the match pushing to tie things up, and the added pressure paid off with Powell's second goal of the season.

"I'm really proud of them," said coach Allison Gibson. "They've given so much all year, every game. They just keep believing. It'd be so easy to give in and stop believing, but they don't. You can knock 'em down, but you can't keep 'em down."

In overtime, the Bengals' best chance for a golden goal came in the second overtime when sophomore Lauren Hough sent a long ball through to a charging Boehler with 1:48 remaining. Boehler had a clear path to the goal, but the officials called offsides on Powell, even though she wasn't involved in the play.

While they definitely wanted to pick up a win rather than extend their program-record winless skid to 11 matches, the Bengals left happy that they at least earned a draw - and the all-important one point that comes with it. "One is obviously better than zero," Boehler said. "As we know from last year, it comes down to points. As many as you can get, we'll take it. We'll take the one."