Trevor Delaney
Sports Editor
Bengals Women’s Soccer team began their 2021 season on Sunday, February 14 playing an exhibition match against the College of Idaho Yotes at the Holt Arena in Pocatello. Finding their hopes for a win stalled, the Bengals came away from Sunday’s match with a solid tied score of 3-3 against their challengers. With a display of both natural talent and well-honed skills from players on both teams, fate would have it that this match was destined for a tie. Far from an unexciting match, Holt Arena was the stage for an honorable season opener for ISU.
The Yotes stole the first goal less than twenty minutes into the first period, but the Bengals scored a successful goal less than seven minutes before the end of the first period with freshman forward Megan Vawdrey making the scoring shot. Closing out this closely contested first period with a single goal each, both the Bengals and the Yotes started out the second period with an obvious determination to best their opponent on the field. When the Bengals come out to play, they mean business.
Idaho State scored their second point of the night when freshman midfielder Meagan Tamashiro landed her shot. The Bengals’ one goal lead was taken back by the Yotes with less than thirty minutes of regular play-time to spare. Fighting against the odds, Jordyn Roth managed to make another goal for ISU late into the second period. This was followed up by another goal by the Yotes, taking the score back to three goals each at the end of the second period. The exhibition match went into overtime twice, but neither team could get another goal after the tumultuous second period. With the Big Sky soccer season just weeks away, the Bengals have some more time to sharpen their skills before they face off against Northern Colorado in their first Big Sky match of 2021.
The Bengals will be playing their next match against Northwest Nazarene at 1 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 26 in Pocatello. While the match is scheduled to be played on the ICCU Practice Field, if the weather is anything like Sunday the match may need to be moved indoors again. If there is one thing teams playing Idaho State can be sure of, the weather in Idaho is anything but predictable.
