After dropping the season opener to Boise State, the Vandals head out on the road to face off with CSU Bakersfield to finish off the first weekend of non-conference play.
“They are a good team, going to be tough at home,” Idaho Head Coach Jeremy Clevenger said after Friday night’s game. “They are a team that is building as well so we expect it to be a challenging game. I think it will be a pretty even match, but I’m looking forward to it.”
The Vandals are 1-5 against the Roadrunners all-time, with the last matchup being in 2016 in Bakersfield with the Roadrunners winning 3-2.
It is a tight game whenever these two teams meet, with all but one match being decided by a single goal. The only outlier was in 2010 during a neutral site game in Seattle where Idaho won 2-0.
Seniors Morgan Crosby and Myah Merino are the only two Vandals remaining on the team to have faced the Roadrunners in 2016.
With the season still being young, there is no clear direction for what part of the Vandals’ game needs improvement now.
Jeremy Clevenger Idaho Athletics
One of the main objectives for Clevenger early in this season is to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses on his roster, which is much needed in part to the 12 newcomers that were brought in this offseason, seven of which saw their first time playing in a Vandal jersey on Friday.
This looks to be a running theme this season of experimenting and seeing where the newcomers and the rest of the team currently stand, always working to make sure the best 11 players are on the field.
Starting goalie, redshirt freshman Avrie Fox, one of the seven players to see their first in-game minutes against the Broncos, is already noticing what Idaho needs to do in order to take its game to the next level and pick up a win on Sunday.
“For the team, I feel like we really have the defense down, so we need to start trying to be creative in the attack,” Fox said. “Really start capitalizing on our opportunities.”
Other freshmen Caitlin Johnston, Jenna Efraimson, Emmy Moore, Hoku Schatz, Berglind Baldursdóttir and redshirt freshmen Sidney Schmidt and Trinity Paulsen all impressed in their debut game.
It is still early in the season, so no need to start the panic and make changes to the game plan.
Even with the slow start in their first game, the Vandals ended up with more shots on goal in Friday’s match, so it is simply finding similar looks and finishing when given the opportunity.
The takeaways from Friday’s recap will be key to picking up a win on Sunday: physicality, follow the game plan and utilize the amount of depth they have at each position.
Idaho will play CSU Bakersfield 6 p.m. Sunday in Bakersfield, Calif.
Zack Kellogg can be reached at arg-sports@uidaho.edu or on Twitter @kellogg_zack.