HONOLULU, Hawai'i - First and foremost, Idaho soccer's 3-1 win over Hawai'i on Sunday evening gave the Vandals a 1-0 record in Western Athletic Conference play, but head coach Pete Showler had plenty more reasons to be happy.
The win was a program first for Idaho (10-3-0, 1-0-0 WAC), which had never before beaten Hawai'i (2-10-1, 0-2-0 WAC). It also gave the Vandals a conference-opening win for the second season in a row and moved the team within one victory of tying the single-season school record.
"It's a really tough place to play," Showler said. "The girls buckled down today and came out and did a great job. Hawai'i is always going to battle, but we came out and set the tone early."
Sophomore Chelsea Small produced a multi-goal game for the second match in a row and tied an Idaho school record with her sixth career game-winning score. She struck first at the 3:08 mark when she took advantage of a missed clear by UH and put a shot to the right side, then slammed in a cross from Lauren Layton at 24:48 for the game-winner.
Layton, just a sophomore, moved into third all-time at Idaho with her eighth career assist. Megan Lopez, another Vandal sophomore, put in her fourth career score with a tap-in of a loose ball at the 85:15 mark to put the game out of reach.
"It was a very good team effort," Showler said of the three scores. "Lauren did a great job of getting crosses in there, and Chelsea did what she does best and put the ball into the back of the old onion bag.
"She (Small) also did a great job of connecting with Megan to get the third goal."
Idaho outshot Hawai'i by an 11-10 overall margin and had a 6-4 edge in shots on goal. Idaho earned eight corners and surrendered just two, while saves were a 3-3 split between the teams. Vandal junior Liz Boyden made three saves in 90 minutes, while surrendering one goal, and UH's Kanani Taaca gave up three goals with three saves in the full 90 minutes.
"It's a great way to start out the conference," Showler said. "We started that way last year, and we've got to build on it. We've just got to keep building on consistency. We know we can win games if we keep putting in the work that we have been."
The win gives Idaho a crucial three points in the WAC standings. Teams earn three points for a win, one for a tie, and zero for a loss during conference play and the top six schools advance to the WAC Tournament at Ruston, La.
The Vandal women will return home next weekend for a pair of home dates against Louisiana Tech on Friday and New Mexico State on Sunday.
