Kicking off the Homecoming weekend sports-wise for Idaho is the Vandal soccer team, taking on the New Mexico State Aggies for the second consecutive conference match of the season.
Curtis Ginnetti | Argonaut
Chelsie Breen warms up before practice Wednesday on Guy Wicks Field. The Vandals are currently 1-0 in WAC play for the first time since 2010 and play New Mexico State Friday.
The team struggled during its first phase of the season losing seven straight non-conference games while getting shut out in the first three. It was not until the team returned home to Guy Wicks Field on Sept. 13 that it saw a close game, losing to Eastern Washington by one point.
The follow up game on Sept. 15 went into the double overtime against UNLV. The Vandals gave up the only point of the match in the 109th minute.
Idaho coach Pete Showler said that the winning momentum his team has been striving for since the beginning of August has arrived and is going to continue through both games this week.
“We’re progressing and we’re starting to figure the right touch,” he said. “What we always talked about was conference. Did we expect to be in the situation we are in with the results? No, but as long as we get better every game then we are going in the right direction.”
Showler credited the increased success in the past weeks to an increase in consistency from the team. He said that while in the beginning of the season the team would perform well for parts of the match, they could not string a solid performance to cover both halves.
“What we need is consistency first then confidence so once we have those two things everybody just feeds off of each other,” Showler said. “When we have been consistent, we have been good. We have to have that consistency from minute one through the final whistle.”
The last time that the New Mexico State Aggies and the Idaho Vandals played was the 2012 conference-play finale on Guy Wicks Field. The Vandals beat the Aggies 3-1 earning themselves a place in the WAC Tournament. In the all-time series, between the two teams, the Vandals lead with a record of 2-1-1. The last time the Aggies won on Idaho’s home field was in October 2012.
After opening up the sports weekend on Friday, the Vandal soccer team will have a day to rest and cheer on the football and volleyball teams.
“All three sports (football, soccer and volleyball), are at home for Homecoming. That means the girls get to support the teams and hopefully they will come out in turn and support us,” Showler said.
The soccer team will then return to Guy Wicks Field at 1 p.m. on Sunday for their second match of the week against Missouri-Kansas City.
Curtis Ginnetti can be reached at [email protected]