Governor’s Cup or not, the best team in Idaho resides in Pocatello and dons orange and black.

    On a bright, sunny afternoon where the weather was polar opposite from Friday’s battle with Boise State, Idaho State punched in two late first-half goals and the Bengals beat Idaho 2-0 Sunday at Davis Field.

    The Governor’s Cup was an annual competition between U of I, ISU and BSU that crowned the top soccer team in Idaho.

    But the Broncos and Vandals are not playing one another in 2013. So no Cup — no award ceremony that makes anything official.

    It does, however, seem fair to lay some kind of moniker at the feet of the Bengals.

    They’re a group who emerged from the downpour Friday with a 2-1 overtime victory against Boise State.

    And after controlling the run of play for 90 minutes, ISU, with a 14-7 shot advantage, ran away from Idaho, too.

    It’s the first time since 2007 that the Bengals have knocked off both the Broncos and Vandals in the same season.

    Throw in the exhibition match with the College of Idaho Aug. 20, and Idaho State (2-0) has outscored opponents from the Gem State 13-1.

    “Because Boise is the big school in Idaho, we kind of get the low end of the totem pole,” said senior Allyson Stainbrook, “but we wanted to prove them all wrong. I think we did that this weekend.”

    Right away against the Vandals, the Bengals pressed forward and attacked. Idaho (0-2) had five freshmen in its starting lineup and the inexperience showed in spots.

    The Vandals’ starting goalkeeper Marina Siegl finished with three saves, but she could only do so much against the relentless wave of the Bengal attack.

    In the 39th minute, freshman Jessica Sanchez picked up a pass from Amanda Ellsworth in the box, and she quickly fired off a shot past the charging keeper.

    “It was one of those goals that you didn’t know until the very last moment if it was going in or not,” Sanchez said.

    The shot, a slow dribbler, did just sneak inside the left post and Sanchez had her first career goal as a Bengal.

    “I told myself before the game that I wanted to get a goal, because ... once you get that first goal, they just keep coming,” Sanchez said. “I was really excited about it.”

    Two minutes later, on the left sideline, Sanchez passed off her back heel to a streaking Lia Margolis.

    Margolis headed straight to the corner and just like the Bengals practice it, Margolis fired off a cross to the near post where Ellsworth connected head with ball and Idaho State had a two-goal lead it would never relinquish.

    “Truly, that’s what we draw up,” said ISU head coach Allison Gibson. “You don’t see that executed often enough, but ... that’s what we do every day in training. It was pretty fun to watch.”

    In two games now, Ellsworth, the Big Sky Conference’s 2012 co-offensive player of the year, has two goals and one assist.

    ISU kept on the offensive in the second half, but Idaho managed to muddy the game with a more physical style of play. At times, Bengal players responded with shoves of their own.

    “It started to get out of control for sure, and that’s why I kept saying, ‘Keep your heads about you. Keep your composure. Don’t engage,’” Gibson said.

    Cooler heads ultimately prevailed, but it was an interesting prelude to 2014 when Idaho soccer joins the Big Sky.

    For now, though, ISU continues with its 2013 schedule and leaves Davis Field for the first time to play Texas Tech Friday.

    And for the rest of this season, the Bengals can look back at the year’s opening weekend and know they won, well, not the Governor’s Cup officially, but who’s going to argue otherwise?

    “Everywhere you go, doesn’t matter if you’re in Pocatello, it’s Boise State and Idaho gear everywhere,” Gibson said. “It’s one of those things where it’s like, ‘No, we’re here. We’re here, too, listen to us.’ For us to be able to come out on top against both schools was pretty fun.”

   For Kyle Franko's postgame blog, click here.