The Idaho soccer team failed to take-down Oregon Friday evening, losing the back-and-forth affair 1-0.
Idaho head coach Derek Pittman said in a news release despite the loss, he is still proud of the effort and play his team put on display in the matchup.
“Overall I thought our players stood tall and represented themselves well today,” Pittman said. “Proud of our players and how we defended in the first half.”
Oregon netted the lone-goal early in the second half. Prior to the goal, nothing was getting by junior goal keeper Makayla Presgrave.
Presgrave tallied five saves in the first-half alone, providing Idaho with multiple opportunities to take a lead. Pittman said this is simply what he expects from his keeper in every matchup.
“(Presgrave) needs to be able to come up with four or five big saves for us,” Pittman said. “Really proud of her effort, and because of that she kept us in the game the entire time.”
Early on, Idaho managed to grind out minutes from its players. As the game progressed, Pittman decided to rest those who played most of the first half.
“We wanted to make sure we had fresh legs,” Pittman said. “I thought Brooke Sosa and Summer Kaneshiro gave us a great opportunity.”
The Vandals come back to their home turf for the next matchup. The team will square-off with Memphis 6 p.m Friday at the Kibbie Dome.
Zack Ozuna can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @OzunaZack21