ISU Soccer Falls to New Mexico, 4-1

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POCATELLO, Idaho – Idaho State fell 4-1 to the New Mexico Lobos Thursday afternoon at the UNM Soccer Complex in Albuquerque, N.M. ISU faced a season-high 33 shots from the Lobos, including 14 on goal in Thursday afternoon's match.

Idaho State (1-4-0) struggled to control the ball for the first 15 minutes of the match. New Mexico (2-3-0) fired off four shots in the first seven minutes alone, and UNM's Maddie Irwin connected in the seventh minute off a deflection from the top of the box for the first goal of the match.

Idaho State weathered six more shots from the Lobos before they were able to put together a good offensive run. A solid look in the 21st minute from freshman midfielder Meaghan Bare forced UNM goalkeeper Cassie Ulrich to step out for a somewhat acrobatic save; Bare again challenged Ulrich in the 25th minute but was unable to convert for the score.

The Lobos closed the half with six unanswered shots and connected with 18 seconds left in the half. UNM's Korynn Blanksma sent the ball across the six yard line to Quincy Slora who scored the Lobos' second goal from about eight yards out. Senior goalkeeper Sheridan Hapsic made several tough saves but lost sight of Slora on the right side of the field, resulting in the easy score for the Lobos.

ISU forced five offside penalties on UNM in the first, but the Lobos were still able to fire off 17 shots to the Bengals' 3. New Mexico also took four corner kicks to ISU's zero in the first 45.

"We had a very slow start and got ourselves into a hole early after giving up that first goal," Head Coach Allison Gibson said. "We made some adjustments and fought hard to get it back but got bit again in the Big Five, giving up a goal with 18 seconds left. That hurt us big going into halftime now down 2-0 instead of 1-0."

Idaho State was more aggressive in the second half, recording a shot and forcing a few offsides penalties on the Lobos in the first 10 minutes. New Mexico countered ISU's aggression and was able to break free in the 67th minute to score the third goal of the match. UNM's Claire Lynch knocked a shot from about 12 yards out to score her second goal of the season and put the Lobo's up 3-0.

New Mexico scored again in the 78th minute, but ISU countered and in the 85th minute Bare knocked a strong ball from the top of the box past the Lobos for her first goal of the season.

"We gave up 33 shots today, so that tells me we have very heavy legs, a soft mentality or a bad combination of both," Gibson said. "We have to get back [to Pocatello] and get our legs under us quickly to be ready for Boise State on Sunday"

The Bengals return to Pocatello Sunday, Sept. 6 to face the Broncos of Boise State at 1 p.m. at Davis Field for their final nonconference home match of the season.