MOSCOW, Idaho - The Vandals head out to face travel partners Montana and Northern Colorado in the annual "Bear Hunt." Idaho plays the Grizzlies Friday afternoon before traveling to Colorado to Face the Bears Sunday. The two teams are among the preseason favorites in the Big Sky Conference but started league play a combined 1-3. 

ABOUT IDAHO: The Vandals sit atop the Big Sky at 7-1-2 overall and 2-0 in Conference play. Defense has been the key. The Vandals have not allowed a goal since August 21st at San Diego State and have tied the school record for shutouts in a season. Kira Witte leads the nation in shutouts with nine. The true freshman has recorded shutouts in all but one game this season. Maddy Lasher now leads the Vandals in goals (3) and assists (4). 

ABOUT MONTANA: Montana is 4-3-5 on the year with reigning goalkeeper of the year Camelia XU, Friday's game is match up of the two best defensive teams in the league. Xu comes into the game with six shutouts to her name. Delaney Lou Schorr has five goals on the season and has accounted for nearly a third of Montana's offense this year. 

ABOUT NORTHERN COLORADO: After starting the season 4-0-2 with a 14-2 goal advantage, Northern Colorado has lost six straight games while being outscored 16-3 and have failed to score in four consecutive games. Goalkeeper Kaya Lindberg has a 1.54 GAA, but has faces 204 shots already on the season. Lauren Woodhull leads UNC with five goals on the season. 

LEADING THE NATION: Kira Witte sit alone atop the standingds as the only goalkeeper in the nation with nine shutouts this season. Witte, a freshman has shutout every opponent except San Diego State and she currently has an eight-match shutout streak. She has tied the Idaho single-season shutout record and has climbed to fifth on the career shutout mark in just five games. She had a career-best 10 saves against Weber State last week. 

DEFENSE: While Witte has been stellar in her first 10 games as a Vandal, the Idaho back line and midfielders have also been outstanding. Idaho has allowed the fewest goals in the season of any Big Sky team, but the Vandals are just sixth for saves, meaning that the defense has limited scoring chances of other teams. 

SPREADING THE BALL AROUND: Nine Vandal players have scored goals so far this season. Maddy Lasher has three goals so far this season, Jadyn Hanks and Savannah Foster have two while Kylie Hummel, Jayd Sprague, Makenzie Burks, Ariel Lofton, Makenzie Burks and Hannah Alfaro have a goal each. 

25TH SEASON OF VANDAL SOCCER: Vandal Soccer enters its 25th season in 2022. Idaho open its first season in 1998 and played its first game on Sept. 1, 1998 against Portland State. 

PUT IT ON FRAME: Idaho soccer is 241st in the nation in shots, but 13th in the NCAA on shot accuracy. 55.4% of the Vandals' shots are on goal. The best mark in the Big Sky Conference. 

BIG SKY PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS: Vandals have earned Player of the Week honors four times including a sweep of weekly awards on Sept. 13. Kira Witte earned the weekly award on Aug. 30, Sept. 13 and Sept. 27 while Maddy Lasher picked up the honor on Sept. 13. 

PLAYER SPOTLIGHT

Jadyn Hanks is the lone returning All-Big Sky honoree, the forward earned Big Sky Conference Honorable Mention.

Savannah Foster scored a game-winning goal in the Big Sky opener against Weber State. The GWG was the fifth of her career and she is now tied for fourth on the Vandal all-time career mark. 

Maddy Lasher and Jadyn Hanks are among the Big Sky Conference's returning leaders in points each finished last year with 11. Hanks had five goals and an assist while Lasher tallied four goals and three assists. She already has three goals and four assists this season.

Alyssa Peters tallied four assists during the 2021 campaign, most among returners. She has shown a sniper ability to place the ball on set pieces and earned the assist on the first goal of the season, Foster's header off of a corner kick against UCSD. 

Savannah Foster took advantage of her extra season due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. She is playing her fifth year as a Vandal. She has played in 74 games and made 61 starts, including the last 52 consecutive games. The last game that she didn't start for Idaho was Sept. 8, 2019 against UC Riverside.   

Kira Witte leads the Big Sky Conference with nine shutouts. Three more than Montana's Camellia Xu. She is just two shutouts short of the conference record of 11 which was set by Xu last season. Witte broke Xu's Big Sky record for consecutive shutouts last week with the win over Idaho State. 

Jayd Sprague leads Idaho with 17 shots and 13 shots on goal, but her biggest contribution likely comes on defensive side of the ball. The midfielder's physical play has set the tone for Idaho in the middle. 

MOST RECENTLY
The Vandals earned the 1-0 win over Idaho State in the first competition of the Idaho Central Credit Union Battle of the Domes series. Kylie Hummel scored her first career goal in the 45th minute to push Idaho to the win.

UP NEXT
Next week, Idaho continues its road swing with the final road game of the regular season, a trip to Flagstaff, Ariz. to face NAU.