The Idaho women’s soccer team will hit the road this weekend for their first road trip of the season.
After a tough loss to the University of Washington, the Vandals will face Utah Tech at 6 p.m. tonight.
The Trailblazers are coming off a successful 2022 season. They ended 10-6-2 last year and have started the 2023 season just as strong.
Utah Tech comes in at 1-0-1, defeating the University of South Dakota 3-1 in their opener. They followed that game up with a 0-0 draw against the University of Nebraska Omaha. Junior forward Karli Heaton, who finished last season with five goals and two assists, is one of the top returning players for the Trailblazers.
Although Heaton hasn’t gotten on the score sheet yet, senior forward Brynlee Rider has picked up the slack. She leads the Trailblazers with two goals in 2023.
Following their battle with Utah Tech, the Vandals will travel to Las Vegas to take on UNLV on Sunday. Unlike Tech, UNLV had a disappointing 2022 season as they went 5-9-5, and they haven’t started the 2023 season off how they would have wanted.
The Rebels started the season with a 3-0 home loss to North Texas before drawing with CSUN 0-0 last Sunday. However, the Rebels return leading scorer sophomore forward Savannah Nichols, who had three goals and one assist last season for the Rebels.
Idaho comes into both games with a lot of experience. However, their leading scorer from a year ago, and one of their team captains, senior forward Maddy Lasher is questionable for the games this weekend with a foot injury. The Vandals have spread the wealth on the score sheet this season with four different players having scored.
The Vandals will look to use this experience to get them through these early road games. After the road trip, the Vandals will be back in the Kibbie Dome at 6 p.m. Aug. 31 to face the University of Nevada.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JaydenBarfuss10