soccerfanatic
Active member
As calculated, the Colorado College game was a tough contest. Because CC competes mostly in Division II sports and only has about 3,000 students, most people do not expect them to be much of a challenge. However, they are by far the best soccer program in the state of Colorado - ahead of Colorado, Colorado State, Northern Colorado, and their closest challenger: Denver.
CC ended up with a Division I soccer team due to Title IX. In the late 1970s, CC had a top Division I Hockey team. The rest of their sports were DII. To keep their hockey program they had to add a women's sport and soccer was chosen. They went all out to make soccer as quality a program as their hockey team was. In fact, in the late 1980s, CC advanced to the final four in Division I soccer in three out of four years, only to get knocked out of the tournament all three times by the eventual champion: North Carolina.
Over the past 20 years, the team has consistently been in the top 10-15 teams in a tough central division that includes all of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, and others. CC is already 3-0 on the year and beat the University of Oklahoma much more soundly than they handled ISU. Further, they are playing at a much higher altitude than Pocatello. Air Force is at about 7,000 feet, and CC is at about 6,000. (In fact, CC fans were amazed at the endurance of the ISU players... something they are not used to seeing.) So, running up against CC is kind of like a patsy being taken by a pool shark.
Frankly, I thought ISU rose well to the challenge. Remember, ISU is playing without both Maren Eves (one of the top keepers in the conference) and Jana Davis-Boehler (their top scorer.) The team frequently is fielding 5-6 freshmen at a time. This team has very little experience playing together and will only get better as the season goes on.
Right now, ISU has the best record in the conference, and they are not playing the South Dakota and North Dakota teams that some of their competitors are taking on. Our biggest weakness continues to be offense: for two years in a row now. We are lucky to come back from Colorado splitting games after only taking 15 shots over two games. Last year, we had a couple games with over 30 shots taken and we were having a tough time scoring. Unless we can figure out how to take a few more shots, we will have trouble winning much this year.
Despite the fact that Benecia Brogan and Crosby Joyner scored the two goals over the weekend, I would give the offensive player award to AnnaMarie Hofstetter who took 5 of our 15 shots and had a couple of near misses that almost made a huge difference. She did a great job of helping control the midfield. I would give the defensive player of the weekend to Karissa Henage. She made some unbelievable saves in the Colorado College game that could have otherwise put the team in a very deep hole. The players are starting to put some nice combinations together, and I believe they will be real contenders for a conference championship this year.
We hope to see Idaho State win the Governor's Cup for the third year in a row this weekend. Then they get to face a tough BYU team on the road before they finally get to come back to Pocatello for their first home game in nearly a month.
Keep it up, Bengals.
CC ended up with a Division I soccer team due to Title IX. In the late 1970s, CC had a top Division I Hockey team. The rest of their sports were DII. To keep their hockey program they had to add a women's sport and soccer was chosen. They went all out to make soccer as quality a program as their hockey team was. In fact, in the late 1980s, CC advanced to the final four in Division I soccer in three out of four years, only to get knocked out of the tournament all three times by the eventual champion: North Carolina.
Over the past 20 years, the team has consistently been in the top 10-15 teams in a tough central division that includes all of Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas, Kansas, and others. CC is already 3-0 on the year and beat the University of Oklahoma much more soundly than they handled ISU. Further, they are playing at a much higher altitude than Pocatello. Air Force is at about 7,000 feet, and CC is at about 6,000. (In fact, CC fans were amazed at the endurance of the ISU players... something they are not used to seeing.) So, running up against CC is kind of like a patsy being taken by a pool shark.
Frankly, I thought ISU rose well to the challenge. Remember, ISU is playing without both Maren Eves (one of the top keepers in the conference) and Jana Davis-Boehler (their top scorer.) The team frequently is fielding 5-6 freshmen at a time. This team has very little experience playing together and will only get better as the season goes on.
Right now, ISU has the best record in the conference, and they are not playing the South Dakota and North Dakota teams that some of their competitors are taking on. Our biggest weakness continues to be offense: for two years in a row now. We are lucky to come back from Colorado splitting games after only taking 15 shots over two games. Last year, we had a couple games with over 30 shots taken and we were having a tough time scoring. Unless we can figure out how to take a few more shots, we will have trouble winning much this year.
Despite the fact that Benecia Brogan and Crosby Joyner scored the two goals over the weekend, I would give the offensive player award to AnnaMarie Hofstetter who took 5 of our 15 shots and had a couple of near misses that almost made a huge difference. She did a great job of helping control the midfield. I would give the defensive player of the weekend to Karissa Henage. She made some unbelievable saves in the Colorado College game that could have otherwise put the team in a very deep hole. The players are starting to put some nice combinations together, and I believe they will be real contenders for a conference championship this year.
We hope to see Idaho State win the Governor's Cup for the third year in a row this weekend. Then they get to face a tough BYU team on the road before they finally get to come back to Pocatello for their first home game in nearly a month.
Keep it up, Bengals.
