As the crowd at Mackay Stadium held their breath, the Nevada Wolfpack and the Idaho Women’s soccer team were tied at 0-0 with two minutes left. On the Vandals’ ninth corner kick of the night, with the lights shining bright, the Vandals made a little nighttime magic.
Graduate outside back, Alyssa Peters, took the corner. She crossed it to the back post, where senior midfielder Annika Farley won the header. The ball lay loose until it got to junior forward Karli Yoshida-Williams.
Yoshida-Williams cut the back to her right foot and fired off a gorgeous shot from around the 18-yard box that rocketed off her foot and went into the bottom left corner, erupting the Vandals bench and giving the Vandals the 1-0 hard-fought win over the Wolfpack.
The Vandals, determined to bounce back from last Sunday’s 3-1 loss to Boise State, arrived in Nevada with a hunger for victory. The first half began, and from the first whistle, the Vandals established possession and put the Wolfpack under extreme pressure.
With the help of the midfield graduates Hannah Alfaro-Black, Margo Schoesler, and senior Annika Farley, the Vandals dictated the game’s tempo and suffocated the Wolfpack. The Vandals had been applying the pressure, but the breakthrough had not come. With minutes left in the first half, the Vandals had a chance to break through.
Idaho had won a free kick from 25 yards out, and Alfaro-Black stepped up, lined the shot up, and drilled a shot destined for the top corner. Wolfpack Junior goalkeeper Mia Collins had other plans and, fully outstretched, saved the ball, and the Wolfpack cleared.
The Wolfpack’s lone bright spot in the first half was senior forward Emily Rich, who danced through defenders and tried to break the deadlock. However, the Vandals’ experienced defense kept her at bay, and the Vandals and the Wolfpack went into halftime tied at 0-0.
The Vandals fired off nine first-half shots, five of them on target, while the Wolfpack managed four shots, only one of which was on target.
After the 15-minute break, Nevada and the Vandals came out, and the sun was completely down. The teams put on a show. In the opening few minutes of the second half, both teams showed off their teamwork and excellent passing and played a beautiful brand of soccer to start.
The Wolfpack looked like the more dangerous team, with Rich and senior midfielder Cassidy Bell bringing the Wolfpack to life. The two combined to force redshirt freshman Paula Flores into two second-half saves, and the Wolfpack, who had lost their last three, were going for it. The Wolfpack pushed, but Flores saved, and the backline led to her second career shutout.
Due to some substitutions, the Vandals regained their control of the game minutes before the game-winning goal and eventually broke through, disappointing the Wolfpack and its fans.
The Vandals were able to hold off the Wolfpack in the final 90 seconds of the game, securing a 1-0 victory over the Wolfpack, and getting back in the win column.
With the loss, the Wolfpack drops to 2-4 and has lost four straight games. The Wolfpack will be back at home as they welcome the red-hot Grand Canyon Antelopes, who come in with a record of 5-2-1.
The Vandals improved to 5-3 with the win and begin a four-game homestand on Sunday, September 15, when they host the 3-2-2 Utah Tech Trailblazers at 1 p.m.