MOSCOW, Idaho – After a record-setting regular season, the Idaho women's soccer team begins postseason play this week at the Big Sky Conference Tournament in Missoula, Montana. The No. 2 seeded Vandals begin their Big Sky Tournament title defense on Nov. 8 in the semifinals against the winner of Wednesday's quarterfinal match between (3) Eastern Washington and (6) Portland State.
ABOUT IDAHO
Idaho has consistently gotten the job done on both sides of the field in 2024. The Vandals scored 33 goals in 18 games during the regular season, leading the Big Sky in total goals and goals per game. The Vandals' 18 assists also tied for the best in the league. On the other side of the pitch, Idaho's stout defense ranked second in the Big Sky in goals-against average, yielding just 1.11 goals per game (20 goals against in 18 games), while compiling seven shutouts.
Alyssa Peters' league-leading13 assists on the season were almost triple that of the next closest Big Sky player (5), and Vandal goalkeeper
Paula Flores ranked second in the Big Sky with seven shutouts.
POSTSEASON AWARDS
Seven Vandals earned All-Big Sky Conference awards, the league announced this week.
Alyssa Peters collected her second straight Big Sky Defensive MVP honor after finishing the regular season ranked No. 2 in the NCAA with 13 assists on the season, breaking the Big Sky career assists record in the process. Peters, who was also a first-team all-conference selection, was joined on the first-team by
Annika Farley. Farley scored five goals and added three assists on the season for Idaho.
Margo Schoesler became a four-time all-Big Sky honoree, earning a second-team All-Big Sky nod. Schoesler scored five goals, including two game-winners, and led Idaho with 36 shots.
Hannah Alfaro-Black,
Cassidy Elicker,
Rebekah Reyes and
Karli Yoshida-Williams each received Honorable Mention All-Conference recognition.
DEFENDING CHAMPIONS
The Vandals are prepared to defend their Big Sky tournament title this week. Idaho won the program's first conference tournament title and earned its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid in 2023. Like last year, Idaho enters the 2024 tournament as the No. 2 seed after going 5-2-1 during conference play. The Vandals earned a bye into the Big Sky semifinals as the No. 2 seed in the six-team bracket.
SCOUTING SEMIFINAL OPPONENTS
Idaho will face the winner of No. 3 Eastern Washington and No. 6 Portland State's quarterfinal match up. During the regular season, the Vandals beat Portland State 3-0 at home and tied Eastern Washington 2-2 in Cheney.
Eastern Washington (9-5-4, 4-1-3 BSC) finished one point behind Idaho in the final Big Sky Standings behind a strong offensive output. The Eagles scored 32 goals, second-best in the Big Sky, and tied Idaho with 18 assists as a team on the season. EWU's Chloe Pattison lead the league with 11 goals and 25 points.
Portland State (4-8-4, 2-3-3 BSC) secured the Big Sky's final playoff spot with nine points in conference play. The Vikings allowed just 1.19 goals per game during the regular season but had trouble scoring, finishing eighth of nine Big Sky teams with just 11 goals scored (0.69/game) in 2024.
The Vikings and Eagles played to a 1-1 tie in Cheney during the regular season.
