Jen Munro pushed on despite the pleas of her mother.

The junior, who is in her first season with the Idaho State soccer team, saw the coach's son perform a somersault throw-in when she was 11. With her extensive background in gymnastics, Munro figured she could easily mimic the maneuver.

But then, there was the resistance of her mother, Philomena Stipp.

"My mom didn't want me to do it," Munro said. "She didn't even want me to try it because she thought I was gonna fall and break my neck or something.

"I kind of just did it regardless. She would still go and help me with it, but she was like, 'Oohhhh' the whole time I was doing it. I guess she kind of accepted it, but I don't know if she was too happy about it at first - until it really looked like I could do it and be safe doing it."

Alex Hansen's mother had no such qualms with the technique. Actually, Sheri Hansen was the one who suggested her daughter try it.

"I tumbled since I was like 3," said Alex Hansen, a freshman for the Bengals. "My mom saw it at a tournament that I went to, and she was like, 'You can do a front handspring, so why don't you just try it with a ball?' So I did. It was kind of scary at first, but practicing just made it better. Now it's efficient."

Despite their mothers' differing sentiments when their daughters tumbled across the somersault throw-in technique, both Munro and Hansen now have it mastered. Their skill has brought a whole new element to Idaho State's attack this season.

Unlike regular throw-ins, which normally travel a few feet at the most, the added flip allows Munro and Hansen to propel the ball to the penalty area, giving the Bengals the equivalent of a corner kick when either of the players is on the field for a throw-in in Idaho State's attacking third.

"It creates a lot of opportunities in front of the goal for us that a lot of teams don't get because they don't have people who can throw the ball in that far," Munro said. "You get a lot more throw-ins than corner kicks, so it basically gives us that many more corner kicks."

If that's the case, why don't more teams feature players who can perform the move?

"It looks painful. I couldn't do it," sophomore forward Lauren Ryan said. "I think some people just have gymnastic abilities that most of us don't. I couldn't bend that way."

To complete the throws, a player takes a few steps back from the sideline and performs a front handspring while placing the ball on the ground as her feet are straight up in the air. She then completes the handspring, using the generated momentum to fling the ball toward the penalty area.

Hansen said she controls the distance by how quickly and forcefully she crunches up before releasing the ball. She aims for the far post with her throws, while Munro said she uses the six-yard mark in front of the goal as a target.

"It was kind of awkward at first because you're balancing on a ball instead of your hands," Munro said, "and yeah, there's that little bit of fear like, oh I hope I don't fall on my face."

Hansen remembers having that trepidation the first time she attempted a somersault throw. After a lot of practice, the move became more comfortable, though.

She first used the somersault in a match for her under-12 team in Utah, and the result wasn't that good.

"The first time I did it in a game, I totally fell," she said. "It was real embarrassing."

While Munro began toying around with the move when she was 11, she guesses she didn't first use it a competitive setting until she was 13 or 14.

Even then, she was hesitant to pull out the long toss.

"In high school, I did it, but I didn't really like doing it because I felt people thought I was just trying to show off," said Munro, who also served as place-kicker for her high school football team. "Really, that's not what it was."

When she did turn to the somersault, she got results. She actually remembers scoring a goal directly with the move.

To be a valid score, the ball must hit a player on the field before crossing the goal line. When Munro scored, she launched the ball into the penalty area, and the ball bounced off the opposing goalkeeper and in for a score.

"I was surprised. I was like, 'Did that really just happen?' It's not like it's a really hard ball to catch," Munro said. "I think it just caught the goalie off guard."

So far this season, the Bengals have capitalized one time off a flip throw. In the team's 2-1 loss at Colorado College, Hansen set up Crosby Joyner's goal with a somersault throw.

Coach Allison Gibson realizes the maneuver can be an even bigger advantage, though, so she's been working with the team to make it a more effective weapon.

"We have talked about certain things we want to do on the flip throws to make them more useful or get something out of them," Hansen said. "It feels cool to be that person who can do that."

While the ability to perform a somersault throw-in didn't single-handedly earn Munro or Hansen a spot with the Bengals, it did help the two stand out during recruiting, Gibson said.

After all, chances on goal come at a premium in college soccer, and the flip-ins generate a few more for Idaho State each match.

"It's a really, really good opportunity," Hansen said. "It's like another corner kick except maybe a little farther out. It's definitely a threat."