Battered Bengals bring losing streak to UM
10/16/2003 12:00:00 AM | Soccer
The Idaho State women's soccer team is reeling.
The Bengals have lost six straight games - all shutouts.
The team is missing six starters due to injury, including all-time leading scorer Stacey Allen.
"The last few weeks have been all about us," ISU head coach Gordon Henderson said. "We have been less worried about preparing for the teams we are playing and more worried about getting our new players ready for their roles."
The University of Montana soccer team, which will host ISU on Thursday at 3 p.m. at South Campus Stadium, is just searching for consistency.
UM (5-7-2 overall, 1-0-0 conference) has split its last four games, most recently winning its conference opener 1-0 over Eastern Washington, putting the Grizzlies into a first-place tie in the Big Sky Conference with Weber State, the team UM plays Saturday.
"We keep getting better every game," said UM sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Braseth. "We are still young, but we are a better team now than we were at the beginning of the season, because of our pre-conference schedule."
The Grizzlies, like the Bengals, have struggled on offense this year, but things are looking up, UM head coach Betsy Duerksen said.
"In the last game, we created great opportunities on offense," Duerksen said. "But against Idaho State, we need to take advantage of those chances we create."
While Duerksen said that her squad has improved on offense, UM has been outshot almost two to one this year, an important area where the Griz need to improve, said freshman defender MacKenzie Murphy.
"Aggressive," Murphy said. "We have to be aggressive. We can't let them beat us to those loose balls and we can't let them outshoot us. We need to be the aggressor like we were in our last game. If they outshoot us, then we will probably lose."
Duerksen said she agreed, saying, "We know that this will be a hard-fought game. We just need to improve our possession of the ball to make sure that there is no letdown in this game."
UM is led by current Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week junior forward Tara Schwager, who scored the winner in the Eastern Washington match.
On defense, UM is anchored by Braseth, who leads the conference with four shutouts. In front of Braseth, junior Wendy Stuker has been the backbone of the UM defense, while Murphy and true freshman Kelly Fullerton have been solid, Duerksen said.
Like the Bengals, UM is also banged up. Leading-scorer Jamie Rizzuto missed last Friday's game against Gonzaga but started on Sunday against Eastern Washington.
Meanwhile, starting sophomore defender Shawn Destafney hasn't been as lucky. She sat out the game against Gonzaga, played in a few minutes on Sunday, and got a cortisone shot in her left foot on Monday. Duerksen expects her to play, however.
UM and ISU have split their last two meetings, with the Griz winning 1-0 last year in Missoula.
ISU (4-7-1 overall, 0-1-0 conference) lost its first conference game 2-0 last Saturday against Weber State.
"We know how important every conference game is for us," Henderson said. "We have won the past two conference tournaments, and you really can't lose more than two games and expect to make the end-of-the-year tournament. Because we lost our first conference game, this, in effect, is the Big Sky final for us."
While Henderson recognizes the importance of every conference game, he said he admits that it will be tough for his team to replace six starters. Besides missing Allen, the Bengals are also without two all-conference players - midfielder Janel Smith and goalkeeper Shannon Boyle.
Smith and Boyle are currently day-to-day and could play this weekend, but Henderson isn't counting on it.
Despite the injuries and the losing streak, ISU is still respected around the Big Sky Conference.
"Idaho State is still a talented team," said Weber State co-head coach Lynn Kofoed. "Montana is a completely different team from us, but they might have success by shooting from farther out than we do. If they play a zone defense though, Idaho State might cause problems for them."
Regardless of ISU's injuries, UM plans on being ready.
"We need to play like we know we can," Schwager said. "We can't worry about them; we need to work about preparing ourselves. We need to play like we know we can and communicate that to each other."
The Bengals have lost six straight games - all shutouts.
The team is missing six starters due to injury, including all-time leading scorer Stacey Allen.
"The last few weeks have been all about us," ISU head coach Gordon Henderson said. "We have been less worried about preparing for the teams we are playing and more worried about getting our new players ready for their roles."
The University of Montana soccer team, which will host ISU on Thursday at 3 p.m. at South Campus Stadium, is just searching for consistency.
UM (5-7-2 overall, 1-0-0 conference) has split its last four games, most recently winning its conference opener 1-0 over Eastern Washington, putting the Grizzlies into a first-place tie in the Big Sky Conference with Weber State, the team UM plays Saturday.
"We keep getting better every game," said UM sophomore goalkeeper Sarah Braseth. "We are still young, but we are a better team now than we were at the beginning of the season, because of our pre-conference schedule."
The Grizzlies, like the Bengals, have struggled on offense this year, but things are looking up, UM head coach Betsy Duerksen said.
"In the last game, we created great opportunities on offense," Duerksen said. "But against Idaho State, we need to take advantage of those chances we create."
While Duerksen said that her squad has improved on offense, UM has been outshot almost two to one this year, an important area where the Griz need to improve, said freshman defender MacKenzie Murphy.
"Aggressive," Murphy said. "We have to be aggressive. We can't let them beat us to those loose balls and we can't let them outshoot us. We need to be the aggressor like we were in our last game. If they outshoot us, then we will probably lose."
Duerksen said she agreed, saying, "We know that this will be a hard-fought game. We just need to improve our possession of the ball to make sure that there is no letdown in this game."
UM is led by current Big Sky Conference Offensive Player of the Week junior forward Tara Schwager, who scored the winner in the Eastern Washington match.
On defense, UM is anchored by Braseth, who leads the conference with four shutouts. In front of Braseth, junior Wendy Stuker has been the backbone of the UM defense, while Murphy and true freshman Kelly Fullerton have been solid, Duerksen said.
Like the Bengals, UM is also banged up. Leading-scorer Jamie Rizzuto missed last Friday's game against Gonzaga but started on Sunday against Eastern Washington.
Meanwhile, starting sophomore defender Shawn Destafney hasn't been as lucky. She sat out the game against Gonzaga, played in a few minutes on Sunday, and got a cortisone shot in her left foot on Monday. Duerksen expects her to play, however.
UM and ISU have split their last two meetings, with the Griz winning 1-0 last year in Missoula.
ISU (4-7-1 overall, 0-1-0 conference) lost its first conference game 2-0 last Saturday against Weber State.
"We know how important every conference game is for us," Henderson said. "We have won the past two conference tournaments, and you really can't lose more than two games and expect to make the end-of-the-year tournament. Because we lost our first conference game, this, in effect, is the Big Sky final for us."
While Henderson recognizes the importance of every conference game, he said he admits that it will be tough for his team to replace six starters. Besides missing Allen, the Bengals are also without two all-conference players - midfielder Janel Smith and goalkeeper Shannon Boyle.
Smith and Boyle are currently day-to-day and could play this weekend, but Henderson isn't counting on it.
Despite the injuries and the losing streak, ISU is still respected around the Big Sky Conference.
"Idaho State is still a talented team," said Weber State co-head coach Lynn Kofoed. "Montana is a completely different team from us, but they might have success by shooting from farther out than we do. If they play a zone defense though, Idaho State might cause problems for them."
Regardless of ISU's injuries, UM plans on being ready.
"We need to play like we know we can," Schwager said. "We can't worry about them; we need to work about preparing ourselves. We need to play like we know we can and communicate that to each other."
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