The Idaho State soccer team defeated Sacramento State on Thursday and lifted itself into a tie for second place in the Big Sky Conference in the process.
Sacramento State came into the contest in first place in the Big Sky Conference with seven points and had beaten the Bengals in their last four meetings. But ISU scored three second-half goals and freshman goalkeeper Hannah Wieler recorded her second straight shutout as the Bengals won 3-0 at Davis Field.
Coming on the heels of a win over Portland State on Sunday, the Bengals moved into a second-place tie with the Hornets with seven points, one behind league-leading Montana.
The game was all even at halftime, and ISU coach Dustin Downey wanted to see his squad become more aggressive offensively in the final 45 minutes.
“I thought we did a decent job in the first half — that was our game plan, a little more offensive strategy than defensive,” said Downey. “We did okay, we took care of the ball, we had more possession — but they (the Hornets) were more dangerous. We weren’t really threatening in that attacking third. We wouldn’t get a cross, or get a shot off.”
So Downey and his staff focused on creating more shots on goal and finishing during their halftime talk. He probably should copyright his talking points, because ISU dominated the second half.
The Bengals, who evened their overall record to 5-5-3 with the win, got on the board first on a goal by Samantha Fenske, her second of the season, assisted by Tess Livingston and Saydree Cooke, at the 55:41 mark.
Stephanie Roper’s second goal of the season, which was unassisted, gave the Bengals some breathing room at the 62:22 mark. Then, 19 minutes later, freshman Lacie Poll put the game away with her first collegiate goal, with assists by Roper and Mary Za.
“We came out and got 14 shots, seven on goal, and three goals,” said Downey. “We clicked a little bit better, moved the ball better, had better runs, and scored some really good goals.”
Meanwhile, Wieler, coming off a 1-0 shutout of Portland State on Saturday, stopped seven Sacramento State shots on goal to preserve the clean sheet. It was Wieler’s fifth shutout of the season.
The Bengals outshot Sacramento State 16-13, and each team had seven shots on goal. ISU recorded six corner kicks to Sacramento State’s five.
In addition to standing in second place after four conference games, the five wins that ISU has recorded overall are the most by the Bengals since ISU went 7-13 in 2016.
Downey, now in his fourth season with the Bengals, pointed out that all three ISU goals scored Thursday came from underclassmen. He said ISU fans are finally starting to see the benefit of patience and long-term roster development.
“My first recruiting class is this group of juniors,” said Downey. “They’ve come in and set the bar and helped this team get where we are the last three years. That was pivotal in what we’re trying to do. It takes a few years. My first recruiting class didn’t come in until my second year. But they have been really great to have here and to help grow this program. It’s been tough, it’s been challenging, but we’ve tried to stay patient, trust the process and stick to what we’re doing.”
ISU will get another stiff test on Sunday, when they travel to first-place Montana for a noon contest in Missoula. The Bengals haven’t beaten the Grizzlies in soccer since 2017, a 1-0 victory in Pocatello.
“I always feel like we match up well with Montana,” said Downey. “I know they are a good team, but I feel like it will be a matchup of two really good teams on Sunday. First and second-place, two possession-style teams. Montana doesn’t allow a lot of goals. We’ve had three shutouts in our last four games, so we’ve been stingy. It’s just going to be a good, old-fashioned Big Sky Conference game between two good teams.”