Idaho women’s soccer is set to kick off itstheir home opener for the regular season this coming Friday against the Grambling State University Tigers.
Idaho has dropped their first two games of the regular season against Nevada and Boise State and are looking to at their its first win of the regular season under new head coach Jeremy Clevenger.
Grambling State currently has one win and one loss on the season. The game against Idaho will mark their its third road game to kick off the season, which could be an added challenge against this tough Vandal defense.
The Tigers finished just short of winning their conference tournament, the SWAC, last season, losing in penalty kicks 4-2 against the No.number 1one seed.
“They are a good team. Very athletic, they have a high work rate and work very hard for the full game, very physical,” said Clevenger in a recent interviewsaid. “[Grambling] pressures the ball and are ball oriented so they send all their players to one area and they can make it very difficult if you can’t move the ball quickly out of pressure.”
Clevenger said tThe Vandals have had their focus on perfecting their play style ahead of this week’s matchup.
“What we will have to focus on is our physicality and our work rate,” said Clevenger said. “We will probably have to be better at our work rate and subside them.”
Idaho will also attempt to add a new wrinkle to this match’s game plan, moving into a two-forward set to help create space in the attacking third and trying to find more offensive opportunities in front of the net.
Idaho has been known for their set pieces and that has also been a key emphasis in practice leading up to Friday’s matchup. But the ability to read the game and have a balance between the playing styles of long ball and slow, methodical passes has also been a focus for Idaho this season.
Kickoff will take place on 4 p.m. Friday, August 24 at 4 pm in the Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho.
Zack Kellogg can be reached at [email protected]