Steven Schaack
Idaho State Sports Information
The Idaho State soccer team lost 4-0 to the University of Michigan on Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 456. The Wolverines scored two goals in each half to earn the victory.
“We don’t see this level in conference,” Idaho State coach Allison Gibson said. “For us to have any success in small areas against a team like Michigan is huge for us to build on.”
Michigan led 2-0 at halftime, scoring in the seventh and 22nd minute. The Wolverines then tacked on second half goals in the 57th and 68th minute.
While Michigan dominated the stat sheet, out shooting ISU 22-4 and taking 11 corner kicks to zero for ISU, there were small victories for the Bengals on the field.
“Besides Michigan and Oregon that is the toughest we’ll see on our schedule,” Gibson said. “The way we made adjustments and pressured them was really positive. I thought our forwards getting in beyond their back line early was positive. They were just shy of finishing it.”
The Bengals finished the season-opening road trip with a split after beating Chicago State 3-0 on Friday.
“For the most part it gave us an idea of where our weaknesses are, which we fully expected,” Gibson said. “The biggest thing for us was our lack of confidence in giving away balls to easy. Not defending in that final third was crucial to our success.”
Idaho State has a week off before returning to the field on Sunday, August 27 for its home opener vs. Boise State at 1 p.m.
Notes
This was only the fourth time since 2011 that ISU has played a Power 5 school. In 2013 the Bengals lost 3-0 at Texas Tech. In 2012 ISU lost at No. 1 Stanford in the NCAA tournament, 3-0. In 2011, ISU lost 3-1 at Utah.
