MOSCOW - There was physical play, hard tackles, tough challenges, and in the end, the University of Idaho (5-3) women's soccer team shrugged off the pressure and took down Eastern Washington (2-6) by a 4-1 margin on Friday at Guy Wicks Field.

"I'm way more satisfied (than last Sunday's 3-0 win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff)," Idaho head coach Pete Showler said. "It was a scrappy game, but a scrappy game where we went and put four goals in while we were playing under pressure."

In a game with two yellow cards, 26 fouls and a lot of physical play, it was a few finesse plays by the Idaho offense that proved the difference. Freshman Chelsea Small started things off by weaving her way through the Eagle 'D' and finding fellow frosh Erica Hart unchecked in front of the goal for the easy score at the 3:28 mark.

Idaho held a strong possession advantage for the remainder of the first half. The team managed a handful of good opportunities, including another Hart shot that caromed off the crossbar.

Small set up a second scoring opportunity indirectly later in the first half, as she broke into the EWU box and was tackled from behind, which set up a penalty kick - Idaho's fourth of the season - which senior Sari Morrison smashed in to put the Vandals up 2-0 at the half.

The two scores on Friday gave Idaho nine first-half goals already this year. Last season, the Vandal women scored nine total goals and managed just a single first-half goal.

After EWU opened the second half with a goal of its own on a breakaway by Brittany Sparks, the 2-1 lead for Idaho was anything but comfortable.

"We said at halftime, two-nil is the most dangerous lead to have, because you don't want the team to ease off at all," Showler said. "We went 2-1 and then we went straight back down and scored again, and the girls showed a lot of character."

Less than five minutes later, freshman Jill Flockhart took it upon herself to mince the EWU defense as, starting from the right corner, she maneuvered her way through three defenders into the middle and sent a short pass over to Hart, who was again free in front of the net, to slam it in for her first career multi-goal game at 51:08.

"It's so nice when you beat a player and look up, and your forward is right there in front of the net and she can turn and score," Flockhart, who earned her first career assist on the play, said. "It's just perfect."

Idaho put the game out of reach 20 minutes later at the 71:00 mark, as another freshman, Lauren Layton, sent a corner kick into the middle of a large group of players. Morrison knocked the ball over to Small, who slipped it under the keeper from about three yards out to seal up the scoring.

For the second straight week, the Vandal women held a strong advantage in shots, as they fired off 25, compared to 13 for EWU. Idaho had 10 shots on target, while the Eagles had five. The Vandals also held a 6-2 advantage in corner kicks, while Eastern Washington committed 17 fouls, including two yellow cards for rough play, and Idaho had nine fouls.

"It was a physical game and the two yellow cards showed that," Showler said. "Eastern tried to make it difficult for us, but we just did a good job of playing our game. We didn't get involved in all the physical stuff and we just took care of the ball."

Sophomore keeper Liz Boyden stopped four shots and allowed a single goal in 90 minutes to go 4-3 on the season in the net, while Small led the team with nine shots. Freshman Megan Lopez fired five shots with two on target, while Hart had four shots.

While the Vandals are happy with the win, Showler said the team needs to take the positive energy and now focus in on Sunday's match against Gonzaga.

"We have a really tough game on Sunday," Showler said of the matchup, "It's not going to be easy at all."

Sunday's game kicks off at 1 p.m. (PST) at Spokane, Wash. Fans can follow Joe Vandal's live commentary throughout the game by clicking on the following link: Live Commentary