Jenna Larson

Idaho State Sports Information

POCATELLO, Idaho – The Idaho State soccer team fell 2-0 to visiting Utah State Friday afternoon in Davis Field in a physical fast-paced game.

“I was really happy with the majority of our play,” Head Coach Allison Gibson said. “We battled hard and played some good soccer. We were unfortunately once again on the unlucky side of another set piece.”

Idaho State (1-3-0) kept Utah State (3-1-0) at bay for the first 24 minutes of the match, but in the 25th minute Ashley Cardozo was fouled inside the box, resulting in a penalty kick for the Aggies. Cardozo was able to convert the penalty kick, giving the Aggies a 1-0 lead. Both Idaho State and Utah State remained scoreless for the remainder of the half, leaving ISU in a 1-0 hole at the break.

In the second half, Idaho State rattled off six shots with one on goal while the Aggies fired seven shots, five of which were on goal. Goalkeeper Shawna Hennings thwarted many would-be Aggie attempts as she challenged nearly every ball that entered the 18. Hennings finished the match with seven saves, bringing her season save percentage to .821.

“She’s been on fire,” Gibson said of Hennings. “She had a bit of an emotional letdown following the Michigan game where she faced so many shots, but I had a chat with her and since then her training has been off the chart. Her game play is tremendous.”

Utah State’s second goal came in the 89th minute off a throw-in from Wesley Hamblin and cross from Cardozo to Alecia Robinson.

The Bengals were led by sophomore forward Michaela Didericksen who finished with six shots, one on goal. Freshman forward Kathryn Leachman, Brooke Kortekaas and Baylee Smithson all recorded two shots, while Danielle Snook added one.

Idaho State is back in action Sunday, Sept. 3 against visiting UTEP at 1 p.m. at Davis Field.