Idaho women’s soccer faced uncertainty this past year, but along with this came successes for the Vandals.
With the fall 2020 season being moved to spring 2021, Vandal soccer was able to keep the momentum going.
The Vandals’ overall record is 7-2-1. They had the best nonconference start in program history, and split the first two games of the Big Sky Conference with one win and one loss. On Friday, Idaho will take on Northern Arizona University for its first home conference game in the Kibbie Dome at 6 p.m. and then Southern Utah University on Sunday at noon.
Continuing conference play, coach Jeremy Clevenger believes his team turned the uncertainty of the pandemic into a positive.
“I think the biggest challenge for us this last year was the unknown,” Clevenger said. “I think the players handled it very maturely, and it ended up working out for us. I thought we were able to prepare for the spring season more and honestly I think the pandemic really helped us and our program.”
Co-captain and senior midfielder Savannah Foster said the pandemic drew the team closer.
“Dealing with something like the pandemic as a team, maintaining close relationships when you’re not supposed to even be close to each other — experiences like that would bring anyone together,” the senior midfielder said. “We went through all that adversity together.”
Senior defender Katherine Blickenstaff agreed.
“Last season was definitely difficult and stressful,” Blickenstaff said. “But I feel like it helped us come together as a team.”
The Vandals had a strong spring season, finishing 5-3-0 in conference and competing in the Big Sky Championship semifinals.
“When we came off a good season in the spring, we grew a lot as a team and got a lot of confidence,” Clevenger said. “I think having these seasons so close together kept the momentum going. It’s not like it’s has been a year since we have had success; it was just in the spring.”
Now the team is on a roll.
“It feels like things are clicking and working well for our offense,” Blickenstaff said. “Once you win a couple games you get the confidence, and seeing how it feels to win, makes you want to win more.”
Can the Vandals keep the momentum going?
“Winning is always fun, but we have to be looking forward to the bigger picture,” Foster said. “We can’t let up we have to keep pushing and win that Big Sky Conference championship.”
Morgan McDonough can be reached at [email protected]