The Vandals’ women’s soccer team traveled to Hollywood and put on a show, thrashing the Cal State Northridge Matadors 5-1.
Twenty seconds into the game, senior outside back Alyssa Peters picked up a ball on the left wing and sent it into the box. From there, senior midfielder Hannah Alfaro got her head onto it and beat the goalkeeper with a looping header to put the Vandals up 1-0.
Alfaro’s goal was the second fastest in school history.
The Vandals started to ramp up pressure after the goal, doubling its lead in the 17th minute. Sophomore forward Karli Yoshida-Williams gathered a ball in the midfield and placed it through the middle of the Matadors defense. Senior midfielder Margo Schoesler got on the end of the ball, took a touch around the goalkeeper and slotted it into the open net to put Idaho up 2-0.
Ten minutes later, the Vandals got their third. Senior outside back Maya Hamilton threw the ball in to Kylie Hummel, who passed it to freshman midfielder Izzy Thoma. She took a touch, got the ball on her left foot and rocketed a shot into the top left corner to give the Vandals a 3-0 lead.
Idaho went into the locker room up 3-0, but after 15 minutes of rest, the Matadors came out ready to play. They put the pressure on the Vandals for the first time in the game, and it led to an unusual mistake.
Sophomore goalkeeper Kira Witte passed it to junior center back Rebekah Reyes in her own six-yard box. Reyes, however, passed the ball right to CSUN redshirt junior forward Izabel Reyes (no relation), who slotted it past Witte to give the Matadors their first goal of both the game and season.
Idaho responded quickly, starting with a forced CSUN turnover in the 68th minute. Peters one-touch passed it to senior forward Jadyn Hanks, who placed the ball in the bottom right corner to restore the Vandals’ three-goal lead.
Ten minutes later, the Vandals once again. Senior outside back Mackenzie Burks threw the ball in to Alfaro, who beat a defender and slashed the ball past the keeper for her second goal of the game, making this her first multi-goal game of her career.
The Vandals dominated the game from start to finish, leaving no doubt against the Matadors. Idaho improved to 4-1-1 on the season.
Idaho will be back in action at the University of California, Santa Barbra at noon Sept. 10.
Jayden Barfuss can be reached at [email protected] or on X @JaydenBarfuss10