MOSCOW, Idaho -- The Idaho women's soccer team will kick off conference play in the P1FCU Kibbie Dome this weekend as they host Sacramento State on Friday, September 27 and Portland State on Sunday, September 29.
Friday night's action gets underway at 6 p.m. against the Hornets while Sunday afternoon's match against the Vikings kicks off at 1 p.m. Both matches will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
ABOUT IDAHO: Idaho finished non-conference play with an overall record of 6-3-1. The team tallied 16 goals in the 10 games played. Eight different players scored for the Vandals, including a team-high five goals from fifth-year,
Margo Schoesler.
The Vandals enter Big Sky play as the defending tournament champions, having defeated Northern Arizona 2-1 to secure the program's first conference crown a season ago. Before stepping onto the turf Friday, UI sits at No. 2 in the BSC standings after winning six of their 10 non-conference matches.
Five different Vandals are listed in the top 5 of multiple statistical categories in the Big Sky.
Alyssa Peters and
Kate Sprink have been key facilitators in the offense and currently lead the Big Sky in assists with three a piece. Schoesler's five goals in 10 games rank second most amongst conference players while
Hannah Alfaro-Black is tied for third with 24 shots and tied for fifth with 2.4 shots per game. Redshirt freshman goalkeeper
Paula Flores has also been a top performer with the third most shutouts (3) and third most saves (45). Her 4.5 saves per game is the fifth most in the conference.
Last time out, Idaho earned its third shutout this season with a 1-0 win over UNLV in the P1FCU Kibbie Dome. Alfaro-Black led the team to victory with a header off of a corner kick taken by Peters in the third minute. The Vandal defense defended their lead for the remaining 87 minutes.
Peters' assist was not only crucial to another Vandal victory, but it also moved the Bremerton, Wash. native into a tie for first in school history and fourth in Big Sky history for most career assists. She is currently only six away from breaking the all-time conference record held by Chansi Crompton of Weber State (27).
ABOUT SACRAMENTO STATE: The Hornets enter Friday's match with a 2-4-3 overall record. Sacramento scored a total of seven goals in their 10 games played. Both teams have let 13 goals through from their opponents. In their last outing, the Hornets suffered a 2-1 loss to Southern Utah (9/17).
Sacramento and Idaho hold a tight all-time series record at 7-7-1. During their last meeting, the Vandals triumphed over the Hornets with a 1-0 win (10/8/23). Over the last 10 times these teams have competed, Idaho has come out on top six times.
ABOUT PORTLAND STATE: Portland State holds an overall record of 2-5-1. Like the Hornets, the Vikings have scored nine fewer goals than the Vandals, with seven. They have been scored on a total of 12 times in their eight games played. The Vikings won their last match of non-conference play, beating Seattle U, 1-0 (9/22). They secured this outcome with a goal in the 70th minute from one of their lead scorers, Aliayha Saldana.
The Vandals lead in the all-time series record 13-7, with Idaho prevailing 1-0 in the Big Sky Tournament (11/3/23) in the two programs' most recent matchup. Seven of the last ten games between these two teams resulted in Vandal wins. Idaho has an advantage at home, with a 5-1 record when hosting Portland.
UP NEXT: The Vandals head out on the road for three consecutive matches, starting with regional rival Eastern Washington on Oct. 6 at 1 p.m.
FOLLOW ALONG: Follow along for everything Vandal Soccer on X (@Vandal_soccer), Instagram (@vandalssoccer), and Facebook.
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