The Idaho women’s soccer team returned home to play Nevada on Aug. 31 on the back of a pair of 1-0 road wins. The Vandals were able to keep their three-game unbeaten streak alive with a 1-1 draw, moving them to 3-1-1 on the season.
The Nevada Wolfpack came into Thursday’s matchup 0-2-2. The Wolfpack dominated the Vandals in the first 25 minutes and, with a bad foul by senior outside back Alyssa Peters, the Wolfpack was knocking on the door to score.
From that foul, sophomore defender Abigail Souza took the free kick and put an in-swinging ball into the box. Fifth year midfielder Luz Arreaga connected her foot through the ball, and, after a couple of deflections, the ball ended in the back of the net, giving Nevada a 1-0 lead.
The rest of the half was the same as the Vandals already lackluster offense had no energy. Nevada outshot the Vandals 5-1 with the Wolfpack having three shots on goal to the Vandals one.
Idaho began to pick up their press coming out of the locker room, gaining momentum.
In the 78th minute, Idaho won their 10th corner of the game. After a bad clearance, senior forward Jadyn Hanks passed the ball back to Peters on the right-wing. Peters took a touch into space and sent in another cross. It connected with junior midfielder Annika Farley, who guided her header into the bottom corner and tied the game for the Vandals.
Idaho played tough defense and pushed on offense to close the game. However, despite efforts, the game ended in a 1-1 draw. After a lackluster first half, the Vandals responded by posting 10 shots, four of which were on goal, in the second half.
Nevada’s momentum in the first half died down as the Wolfpack only took one shot in the second. Head Coach Jeremy Clevenger was pleased that his team played better after halftime, but also acknowledged the sluggish start,
“I thought we just started slow. We weren’t quite ready to play for some reason,” he said. “I give my team a lot of credit to come back and fight back, tie it up and really look like the better team in the second half, but it’s a learning lesson and we have to start stronger.”
The Vandals were down two starters, senior forward Maddy Lasher and senior midfielder Margo Schoesler, which could have contributed to offensive struggles.
Although Idaho had a good start to the season with three goals against Seattle University, the Vandals have not scored more than one goal in any other game this season. Without Lasher and Schoesler, Idaho’s offense will need to play stronger.
The Vandals will travel to California next to take on CSUN on Sept. 7. Idaho will be back at the Kibbie Dome for its conference opener against Weber State on Sept. 20.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on X @JaydenBarfuss25