MOSCOW, Idaho – University of Idaho soccer played Washington State to a scoreless halftime draw, but gave up a goal in the middle of the second half and couldn't recover in a 1-0 non-conference loss.
Idaho (0-7-0) surrendered a score at the 59:12 point when Washington State's (5-0-2) Beau Bremer capitalized on a rebounded ball, firing it off the crossbar. The goal came after the Vandal defense blocked two shots from the Cougar front line.
“I thought we did a good job today, I give Washington State credit, they are a fantastic team,” head coach Derek Pittman said. “I thought our players stood up to them and did a good job. They put in a great effort defensively and we eventually created a few opportunities on the attack.
In the 12th minute, sophomore Alyssa Pease made a run down the field and fired the ball nearly missing the net. The Vandals had another opportunity on goal in the 57th minute off of a free kick by sophomore Amanda Pease, the ball soared toward the goal, barely missing the net flying too high.
“With a little bit of luck here and there the ball could have gone in and been a little bit of a different game,” Pittman said. “Washington State defiantly played well against us today, but I thought our players represented the Vandals very well.”
Overall, the Cougars outshot Idaho 24-3. The Vandals gave up 15 corners and earned just one of their own. Washington State committed seven fouls, while Idaho had 10 and two yellow cards in the contest.
“This was by far our best performance as a team. We had a lot of really positive performances by some individuals and defensively our organization was fantastic,” Pittman said. “Looking forward, we want to continue that defensive presence and organization and build off of it. We want to create more dangerous opportunities and the goals will start to come. The fact that we were able to shut down a very good opponent for long periods of the game is a big positive going into next week.”
Idaho hits the road next week when the Vandals make the trip to Phoenix, Ariz., to take on Grand Canyon Friday at 7 p.m. PT and travel to Tuscon, Ariz., Sunday to faceoff against Arizona at 1 p.m. PT.
