Bengals gut out 0-0 draw against Portland State to keep pace in Big Sky Conference standings

With the Idaho State women’s soccer team sitting in fifth place in a conference that only takes six teams in its postseason tournament, every point becomes important.

The Bengals were able to squeeze out one of those precious points on Sunday, getting outshot, but hanging tough in a 0-0 tie at Portland State. The draw gives Idaho State one point, and leaves the Bengals with four total after starting conference play 1-1-1. The Bengals are only a point behind fourth- place Eastern Washington — but only a point ahead of the three teams tied behind them for the last playoff spot.

“Even though we only get a point, keeping the ball out of the net may be an important factor in a tight race come the end of conference play, and a lot of teams jockeying for tie-breaker points,” said ISU head coach Dustin Downey.

The tie was ISU’s sixth shutout of the season, all recorded by redshirt freshman goalie Trinity Hale, who shares the Big Sky lead for the most whitewashes. It came despite the fact that the Vikings outshot the Bengals, 24-12, including 10-4 in shots on goal.

“We had to battle and fight to compete for 90 minutes to get a big conference point on the road,” said Downey. “Portland State is a dangerous attacking team, and for us to walk away with our sixth shutout of the season, was an accomplishment.”

Camille Kollar, a freshman midfielder from Colorado, led ISU with three shots, including one on goal.

“We had some solid performances from our deep bench in this game as well, which was huge in us getting a shutout and a draw,” said Downey.

Getting a tie was especially important for the Bengals after they were run over by a previously struggling Sacramento State team on Friday. The Hornets, who came into the game 0-2 in conference play, ran out to a 3-0 lead before Paige Harris scored in the 63rd minute of the contest for Idaho State. Sac State responded with another goal five minutes later on its way to a 4-1 win.

The victory must have lifted the Hornets’ spirits, because they followed it with a shutout victory over Weber State on Sunday to move to 2-2 in league play.

“Friday’s game was a wake-up call to our team,” Downey said of the drubbing by Sac State. “It doesn’t matter who you play, in a Division I soccer game if you don’t play hard, you’re going to have a hard time winning. We came out flat against a hungry, at home Sac State team who needed to get a good result this weekend. They did their job, and we didn’t.”

The Hornets outshot ISU 14-10, and 6-3 in shots on goal.

The goal by Harris, a freshman midfielder from Phoenix, was the offensive highlight of the weekend for ISU. She has three on the season, which ties her for eighth in the Big Sky.

Good defense and struggling offense has defined the Bengals, now 2-5-5 overall, so far this season. They have scored only eight goals this year, ranking them sixth in the conference. ISU is also eighth in shots and seventh in shots on goal.

Defensively, the Bengals are third in goals allowed in the Big Sky.

“Watching our team compete today was encouraging,” Downey said after the tie with Portland State. “We learned that just working hard and battling, scrapping and competing hard, will take care of a lot of deficiencies in our game when we’re not technically at our best.”

The Bengals get a week off before traveling to Weber State to meet the Wildcats on Sunday, Oct. 13 at 3 p.m. There are five games remaining in the Bengal regular season, with the conference tournament scheduled for Nov. 6-10 in Missoula.