MOSCOW, Idaho - The Vandal soccer team (4-2-1) hits the road for their final non-conference match up of the season. Idaho will travel to El Paso, Texas to take on UTEP (1-6-1) on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. PST. The game will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
ABOUT IDAHO: Idaho soccer split the weekend on the road, going 1-1. The Vandals opened up the weekend with a 5-1 win over CSUN on Thursday evening. The 5-1 win marked the highest scoring game since 2020 when the Vandals defeated Portland State 5-0 in back-to-back matches. Hannah Alfaro scored two goals, including the opening goal only 20 seconds after the starting whistle. Alfaro only had three career goals before the game and recorded her first career brace in addition to dishing out an assist. Alyssa Peters also had a multi-point game, recording two assists bumping her up to No. 6 all-time at Idaho with 15 career assists. Izzy Thoma, Margo Schoesler, and Jadyn Hanks also scored during the dominant win.
Sunday's matchup against UCSB proved to be in favor of the Gauchos as the Vandals were held scoreless for the first time this season. The 1-0 defeat stemmed from the Gauchos only quality chance on goal. Meanwhile, the Vandals out-shot UCSB 11-9 overall with three shots on goal to UCSB's one. Peters, Hanks and Alfaro have started every game this season and have appeared in 54 matches for the Vandals, ranking fifth all-time at Idaho. Schoesler is right behind with 51 appearances.
ABOUT UTEP: UTEP enters the weekend with a 1-6-1 overall record and 1-2-1 at home. The Miners have allowed 20 goals this season while the Vandals have only allowed seven. UTEP finished last weekend 0-2 on the road at Tulsa and Texas A&M Commerce. The Miners were shutout 4-0 by Tulsa and lost a close one to TAMCC 3-2. Taya Lopez leads the Miners with two goals this season, joined by four others with one apiece.
The Vandals and the Miners have only clashed once before in 2007. The meeting ended up in favor of UTEP, 4-1.
FOLLOW ALONG: Follow along for everything Vandal Soccer on X (@Vandal_soccer), Instagram (@vandalssoccer), and Facebook.
