Idaho State soccer coach Dustin Downey hates to lose a top-quality performer like Talia Coury in the middle of her collegiate experience, but he certainly can’t argue with the career opportunity his former defender is getting.

Coury, who tied for the ISU lead with three goals in her sophomore season last year, recently signed a contract with Tigres UANL, one of the most successful professional women’s teams in Mexico. Coury will be joining another former Bengal, American Falls native Maria Sanchez, with the Tigres.

“It takes a while to build a program,” said Downey, now heading into his fifth season as ISU head coach. “My (coaching) staff has worked hard to bring in professional-quality players, players who want to play professionally. We were lucky enough to get one as a sophomore. It stinks to lose one of your best players a sophomore, but it says, ‘Hey, if you come to Idaho State, we can help you make a living in soccer.’ I’m so happy for her and glad to be a part of her future.”

Coury, who grew up and played youth soccer in the Phoenix area, has played in 33 games, starting 23 since joining the ISU program in the fall of 2024. She’s spent most of her time as a defender but has also played some in the midfield.

Her grandparents are Mexican citizens, and that opened the door for her to win a spot on the Mexican national U-23 team last fall. She competed with the national team on a trip to Finland, which gave her the exposure that started to open the possibility of a professional contract with a Mexican team.

“I was talking to an agent over the winter, and I had the opportunity to visit a lot of other clubs,” said Coury in a phone conversation from Monterrey, where the Tigres have begun preseason training. “Then my current agent had me hop on a call with Tigres — they’re a huge club in Mexico. They are the most winning team in the league. I felt it was a great opportunity to learn a lot from well-seasoned players and grow a lot as an individual.”

The Tigres have won eight championships in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican soccer, and in 2020, they were runners-up in the FIFA Club World Cup, becoming the first Mexican club to reach the final of a FIFA global competition.

The Tigres play a split season, with the first beginning in August and ending in December, and the second starting in late January and continuing in May.

“We have players from all around the world that play for their national team,” said Coury, who signed a two-year contract with Tigres. “This club has won the most games of anybody since the league started.”

At just 21 years old, Coury will be one of the youngest players on the roster, and she’ll be competing with and against players with years of professional experience. Sanchez, who played two seasons at Idaho State before transferring to Santa Clara to finish her collegiate career, is 30 years old now and has been playing professionally since 2019.

“It’s a lot of pressure,” Coury acknowledged. “But I think this pressure is a privilege at the end of the day. It’s going to be a really, really good learning experience for me. I’m going to be around the kind of experience that can really form me into the player that I want to be.”

Coury said Sanchez just recently arrived at Tigres training camp and she’s had only a few brief conversations with the former American Falls star.

In addition to her experience with Tigres, Coury is continuing to compete for playing time on the Mexican U-23 national team.

“There’s an upcoming event and the training camp squad for that camp will be announced soon,” she said. “I can’t say too much about it now, but that’s the next event.”

Coury had praise for the Idaho State program that prepared her for the professional opportunity that followed.

“I loved Idaho State for what it had to offer me,” she said. “Dustin taught me a lot of things. Got to experience a lot of good things with the team. It was an experience that was needed. I’m only moving on with love for Idaho State for the place and the people that really set me up to fly.”

The Bengals, who finished 5-8-4 overall and 2-4-2 in conference play last year, will be reconvening in Pocatello July 15 for the first experience under a new NCAA rule that allows soccer teams to have summer workouts. Men’s and women’s basketball and football have had summer workouts for several years now.

Downey has been busy recruiting to plug the holes created by the departure of Coury, Tess Livingston and Isabella Winton, two starting defenders who transferred after last season. He recently added Westminster transfer Gracie East, a redshirt junior, to his defensive line and is excited about the addition of incoming freshman Amanda Brayton from the highly successful San Diego Surf club program, who will likely see action in the midfield and as a defender. He also added attacker Laila Carter, a transfer from New Mexico.

Forwards Saydree Cooke, the leading scorer; Stephanie Roper; and Samantha Fenske, the Nos. 4 and 5 scorers, return from last year’s team.