MOSCOW, Idaho - Idaho heads east to play a pair of matches in Massachusetts beginning Thursday evening against UMass Lowell at 4:15 Pacific time. It is the first meeting in program history and both teams enter the match with a 1-1 record.
ABOUT IDAHO
The Vandals are looking to get back in the win column after falling to Washington Sunday in Seattle.
Annika Farley and
Georgia Whitehead scored goals for the Vandals in the 2-0 shutout win over UC Riverside in the season opener at the P1FCU Kibbie Dome. On the defensive side,
Paula Flores faced two shots and stopped both for her ninth career shutout.
Four starters return for the Vandals, including leading scorer Farley and Flores along with veteran forward
Karli Yoshida-Williams and midfielder
Sara Rodgers. Eleven letterwinners return, but Idaho brought in six transfers and nine freshmen to bolster the roster this season.
The Vandals have won double-digit games in each of the last four seasons and have made the Big Sky Championship match three years in a row, falling in a shootout in two of the three years while advancing to the NCAA tournament in 2023.
Farley, Rodgers, Yoshida-Williams and
KV Miller combined for 14 of Idaho's 35 goals last season.
ABOUT UMASS LOWELL
The Vandals will meet the River Hawks at Cushing Field on the banks of the Merrimack River. Lowell is 1-1 on the year after topping Stony Brook 4-2 before falling to Merrimack 2-1.
Five different players have scored for the River Hawks, but Maddie Guthrie has assisted on three of the five goals. Goalkeeper Rachel Welch has played every minute of the first two games for Lowell.
Head coach Mira Novak is in her eighth season at the helm and has racked up 43 wins. The River Hawks were 6-10-3 last season.
PRESEASON BIG SKY COACHES POLL
As a team, the Vandals were picked third behind preseason favorite Montana and No. 2 Eastern Washington. Idaho is the only team to make the Big Sky Championship match each of the last three seasons.
PRESEASON HONORS
Idaho graduate midfielder
Annika Farley was named to the All-Big Sky Preseason team and the United Soccer Coaches Midfielder Watch List released before the season began.
Farley, a returning First-Team All-Big Sky honoree led Idaho with five goals and 13 points on the season after starting in every game for the Vandals.
A team captain for 2025, she helped the Vandal defense record eight shutouts on the year while contributing on the offensive end of the field.
Junior
Izzy Thoma was named to the Preseason All-Big Sky team as a Defender. She played in all 20 games a season ago.
SUPER SCHEDULE
The Vandals play an outstanding schedule this season, which includes a trip to Big Ten Washington, an East Coast swing at UMass Lowell and Stonehill College and home non-conference games against Washington State, South Dakota, UTEP and Boise State.
FABULOUS FLORES
Vandal goalkeeper
Paula Flores was among the best in the Big Sky. She recorded eight shutouts on the season, second in the Big Sky. She allowed the just 21 goals in 20 games, for a goal-against average of 1.038, third in the Big Sky and first among full-season starters. She opened the 2025 season with a shutout against UC Riverside.
TRANSFERS INTO MOSCOW
Six new Vandals came via the transfer portal this winter.
Kya Parke (CS Fullerton),
Amalia Fonua (Jackson State),
Deanna Montero (Washington),
Georgia Whitehead (WSU),
Karina Da Silva (Washington) and
Calli Chiarelli (SIU Edwardsville) all transferred in ahead of the spring semester. All players were available in the spring for conditioning and spring games.
Whitehead scored the first goal of the season for the Vandals.
UP NEXT
The Vandals head to the East Coast for games against UMass Lowell (8/21) and Stonehill College (8/23).
FOLLOW ALONG
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