MOSCOW - New Mexico State struck first, but a steady Idaho effort prevailed in a 4-1 victory for Vandal soccer on Sunday at Guy Wicks Field.

Idaho (12-3-0, 3-0 Western Athletic Conference) gave up a goal just two minutes into the contest against NMSU (6-6-2, 0-4 WAC), but the Vandals regrouped, scored twice before the midway break, then took control in the second half to earn their school-record 12th game of the season.

"It took the goal to wake us up," Idaho head coach Pete Showler said. "Fifteen minutes after they scored, we actually started playing the way we should have been playing. We just can't give teams those opportunities, but the way we responded was phenomenal."

NMSU put the pressure on early, earned a corner, then Lauren Cope rebounded a Kristen Powers shot at the 1:55 mark to the put the Aggies up 1-0. NMSU controlled the pace for the first 15 minutes of the game, but Idaho regained some control midway through the first.

A disallowed Idaho goal at 15:09 for offsides kept the game at 1-0, but an energized Vandal squad outshot NMSU 9-1 from that point on in the first half.

Erica Hart put in her third goal of the season at 41:13 to culminate a great team possession. Sophomore Lauren Layton sent a pass forward to sophomore Chelsea Small for a header on to Hart, who slammed it high to the left corner.

Just moments later, Small took advantage of a gap in the NMSU back line to send a 25-yarder toward the right post. NMSU goalkeeper Erin Wosick was there, but the ball squirted through her hands and found the net at 43:56 to put Idaho into the break up 2-1.

"We're always telling the girls if you don't buy a lottery ticket, you can't win the lottery," Showler said about taking chances on offense. "If you don't take shots, you're not going to score."

After taking the momentum late in the first period, the Vandal women ran with it in the second. Freshman Christina Boddie netted her third career goal after one-timing a defender's clear. The NMSU defender tried to send a ball out low, but Boddie got her foot on it at the top of the box and fired it past Wosick to give Idaho a 3-1 lead at 53:20.

Jill Flockhart capped off Idaho's scoring at 70:50, when she rebounded Small's close-range shot. The ball bounced off the keeper and went straight to Flockhart for the easy finish.

Idaho out-shot NMSU by a 32-12 overall margin. The Vandals had 16 on-target attempts, compared to four for the Aggies. NMSU had four corner kicks, while Idaho had three. Wosick made 11 saves for the Aggies, while junior Liz Boyden had three for the Vandals.

"They played very differently from what we've seen and heard about them, and it caught us on our heels, but our response was very positive and very purposeful," Showler said. "We didn't get flustered, we stuck to the task and I think we were deserving of the win at the end of the day, but NMSU played very well for the first 25-30 minutes to bring the best out of us."

Small had another spectacular game for the Vandals. She broke two school records on Sunday, first by scoring her 12th goal of the season, then, after adding two more points from assists, she broke Idaho's single-season scoring record with her WAC-leading 28th point. She also netted her seventh game-winner of the season to extend the school record she set last weekend at Hawai'i.

Layton earned her team-leading sixth assist of the year to take sole possession of third in Idaho single-season history. It was her 10th career assist, which is the second-most in Idaho program history.

"We never want to be a predictable team," Showler said. "The girls have the creativity and the ability to play good soccer.

"They do play good soccer, and the result is we're getting goals from all areas, which is tough for other teams to deal with."

The Vandals will kick off a three-game road stretch next week with matches at Nevada on Friday and Utah State on Sunday, which precede Idaho's Oct. 24 date at Boise State.

"We've got Nevada on their home turf, which is always a tough place to play, and then we've got Utah State, and they're unbeaten," Showler said. "We know we're going to have two very tough games and we have to go in with the mentality that they're going to be two battles.

"We know there's still a lot of work to do. We can't let up anywhere and we've got to keep pushing to be better every game - I have every belief that we can be."