In the Big Sky Conference, 10 of the 11 teams are still in contention for a berth in the Big Sky Tournament that kicks off Nov. 6. Of those 10, three of them will be wrapping up their conference schedule this weekend.
But potential stakes mean nothing if they don’t take care of business on Friday afternoon when they take on Sacramento State, a team fighting for one of those coveted six spots in the conference tournament.
The here-and-now mentality has proven to be vital for the Vandals so far this season. They are 3-0-1 in Sunday games in the Big Sky.
Leong will play in Southern California for the second time in her career as a Vandal. The first was when they traveled to take on Cal-State Bakersfield last year in a losing effort. Leong and the Vandals will look to avoid that result and keep their position at second in the conference before traveling back to the Northwest to take on Portland State.
Portland is home for another Vandal, senior defender Emily Ngan. She will play in her hometown for the second time in her career at Idaho with the first being a 2-1 loss in 2011 during Ngan’s freshman season.
“It is the same as any other game,” Ngan said. “There will just be maybe some extra fans and support which is awesome.”
With the Vandals conceivably within striking distance of the conference leading Montana Grizzlies, it may be easy for them to start overthinking the standings, though they’ll try to avoid it.
“We just have to focus on getting any points we can — even a tie is good right now,” Leong said. “Anything we can do to get another point on the board.”
The Vandals are coming off a weekend where they played an extra half of soccer with two double overtime games, so getting a chance to rest up and loosen their legs is key as they continute to prepare for Sacramento State, Ngan said.
“It was really important for us to take Tuesday off but we all got a jog in to loosen up our legs,” she said. “We will continue to recover and prepare for this weekend.”