Idaho vs. Seattle U
The Vandals completed the comeback and picked up a win against Seattle University Thursday, following Idaho’s first overtime goal in almost eight years in an overtime thriller.
The Vandals went into Thursday’s game against Seattle U having with just one win against the program all time.
The Redhawks took an early lead, scoring in the 18th minute. Idaho was able to respond in the second half with senior defender Kayleigh Frederick netting a goal in the 54th minute. But the back and forth would continue, with Seattle taking the lead just 10 minutes later.
A long throw from senior defender Josilyn Daggs to senior defender Kelly Dopke lead to the game-tying goal which forced overtime.
The Vandals rode this momentum into overtime, with junior forward Kayla Watanabe scoring the winning goal just two minutes into overtime.
“We came out a little slow in the first half, and credit to Seattle U for jumping on us and getting the early goal,” Idaho Head Coach Jeremy Clevenger said in a news release. “But we came out in the second half and started to play a little more aggressive, started to play our way, and we were able to equalize with a set piece goal. Seattle U came back to score another and go up, but our players just battled back to find that second goal and took advantage of a great moment in overtime.”
Idaho vs. Oregon
Idaho ended the non-conference season in Eugene with a loss at the hand of the Oregon Ducks. Idaho ends with a record of 3-5-1 before the Big Sky schedule starts.
Idaho went into this game looking for their first win against the Ducks. Early into the first half, Oregon jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Midway through the first half, the Ducks doubled their lead.
“We came out a little slow in the first half,” Clevenger said. “It’s the second game in a row that we came out slow, so we definitely want to address that. But we were very impressed with Oregon, they have a great team and a lot of dangerous players and they took advantage of our slow start.”
In the second half, Clevenger worked in more players from the bench, including junior goalkeeper Julia Byerlein. With her first appearance in a regular season match as a Vandal, Byerlein had five saves and a shutout.
“First of all, Jules (Byerlein) played great,” Clevenger said. “She made a couple of big saves late to keep the Ducks off the board in the second half. And overall, I think everybody did well. It’s good when you get a game against a Pac-12 opponent and you feel comfortable going deep into your bench. It was a good game for those players to see some minutes and get some confidence ahead of conference.”
Idaho returns home to open conference play with Portland State 7 p.m. Friday in the Kibbie Dome.
Zack Kellogg can be reached at [email protected]