Here is a rundown of the area DI schools and their conferences as well as how players from the Inland Northwest performed around the nation in the past week-plus as everyone began official play.
Due to the extensive number of games, INWsn will focus solely on the teams in and players from the INWsn coverage region for non-league games and expand the coverage within the conferences when league play begins... (Through games of Monday, September 1)
PAC-12 CONFERENCE - WOMEN
Friday, August 22
TCU 0-3 Washington State
After a nearly three-hour delay, the Cougars got the season off to a good start, finding the back of the net twice in the first half. A Kailiana Johnson penalty in the 28th opened the scoring and a Cara Wegner corner in the 39th found the head of Mesa Owsley in the 39th for the two-goal halftime margin. Wegner set up a second on a nice goal in the 74th when she headed a ball in from Beau Bremer, who made a nice run up the left side, at the far right post back in to the six for Jocelyn Jeffers to put away. The shutout was the 25th of Gurveen Clair's Cougar career, extending the career school record. The game was the first for new coach Steve Nugent, and with the delay also the first under the lights at the newly-renovated Lower Soccer Field. MORE (with vid) [+]
Monday, August 25
Washington State 0-0 BYU
In a showdown with 17th-ranked BYU, both Cougar sides finished in a scoreless stalemate. Clair made nine saves to keep the match deadlocked at zeros, though defender Susie White helped out with a goal-line clearance of a rebound attempt in the 32nd minute after Clair made the initial stop. After two assists three days prior, Wegner nearly had a goal in the 10th minute only to see it tipped over the crossbar. MORE [+]
Sunday, August 31
Montana 0-2 Washington State
The shutout run continues for Gurveen Clair and the Cougars as it now stands at six consecutive games going back to last season (652 minutes). Wegner tallied her third assist of the year with another corner kick goal, finding the head of Johnson this time int he 16th minute. A Johnson free kick led to the second in the 30th minute when it was blocked, allowing Jordan Branch to rifle the rebound inside the far post from about 25 yards. MORE (with vid) [+]
Loyola Marymount 0-1 Oregon
Despite leading the team in shots so far this season, striker Kristen Parr (Bend, OR) was unable to find the back of the net until the 84th minute in their third game of the season for the victory, talking off a corner kick. MORE [+]
PAC-12 - MEN
Friday, August 29
Evansville 1-3 Oregon State
Freshman Timmy Mueller (Post Falls) made an impact right from the start with the Beavers, tallying two goals and an assist in his first official game at OSU. He helped set up the opening goal in the 36th minute and helped double the lead less than two minutes into the second half. He capped the game with a second goal in the 82nd minute of play. MORE (with vid) [+]
WEST COAST CONFERENCE - MEN
Friday, August 29
Washington 4-0 Gonzaga
After close contests in recent meetings, the Bulldogs just couldn't stop the Huskies this time around as the visitors, ranked in the top ten, used the talent of Darwin Jones up top and took advantage of dead ball opportunities to grab the decisive win. INWsn REPORT [+]
WEST COAST CONFERENCE - WOMEN
Friday, August 22
Gonzaga 2-1 OT CSU Bakersfield
The Zags opened the season on the road and came away with a very late overtime decision when Cassie Geerdts scored with 10 seconds remaining in the contest for the win on a play set up by Mikayla Anderson and Jordan Travis. Tori Lee initially gave the Bulldogs the lead by converting a penalty in the 14th minute after Anderson had been taken down in the box. MORE [+]
UC Irvine 0-2 Santa Clara
Sofia Huerta (Boise, ID) picked up right where she left off last season, scoring two both goals for the 10th-ranked Broncos in their opener. She headed the opening goal off a cross in the 14th minute and capped the game with a penalty kick goal with 10 seconds left.
Sunday, August 24
Gonzaga 3-0 Fresno State
A Bulldogs throw-in led to the opener when Katey Pennington took the ball and found Baggerly for the opening goal 13 minutes in, and forced the hosts into an own goal five minutes before the break when the keeper came out to defend a high ball only to see her defender nod it over her in a miscommunication. Baggerly put the game out of reach in the 83rd with Heather Johnson doing the hard work to create the opportunity. MORE [+]
Friday, August 29
Montana 2-0 Gonzaga
The Bulldogs saw their nine-game win streak against the Grizzlies come to an end in a flat performance with the visitors scoring twice in the first half and keeping the Zag offense in check throughout the contest. INWsn REPORT [+]
Florida International 0-1 Santa Clara
After suffering a 2-1 overtime loss on Sunday, the Broncos bounced back with Huerta scoring her third of the season in the 76th minute for the victory, nodding in cross.
Sunday, August 31
Idaho 0-5 Gonzaga
The Bulldogs rebounded from their loss to one Big Sky foe by trouncing another with former assistant Derek Pittman returning to Spokane with the Vandals. Pittman's knowledge of the Zags was not enough to stop them as they bounced back with a very authority. Baggerly scored the first two goals, opening the scoring in the 21st and doubling things in the 57th by winning a pair of one-on-one battles for the ball. Brittany Doan scored on a nice shot in the 69th and Geerdts tallied her second assist of the day on Savannah Van Citters' 82nd minute goal before scoring herself less than two minutes later. INWsn REPORT [+]
BIG SKY CONFERENCE
Friday, August 22
Idaho 1-2 Seattle University
A penalty 11 minutes in put the Vandals behind, but a deflected corner was put in by Alyssa Pease (Bend, OR) in the 29th minute to put the game level. The Vandals kept the game deadlocked through the second half despite being outshot 9-4 to send the game to overtime where Seattle prevailed when Julia Moravec (Spokane, WA) found Natasha Howe for the win six minutes in. MORE [+]
The score was closer than the contest as the Bengals opened the season in fine fashion, scoring twice in the first half and doubling the lead to four before the visitors added their two goals. Maria Sanchez (American Falls, ID) set up Amanda Ellsworth for the opener six minutes in and then scored two of her own. She notched the first in the 28th minute from 17 yards and and headed in the rebound of a shot from Katherine Roberts (Pocatello, ID) four minutes into the second half. Roberts, who also had an assist on the opener, found Ellsworth for the final goal and the all-time points leader - as established with the first goal - added to her school record by proceeding to beat three defenders and the keeper for the goal in the 58th. MORE [+]
Montana 1-0 Air Force
The Grizzlies opened on the road with a late win against the Falcons when Allie Lucas (Billings, MT) found Jamie Simon for a 20-yard goal with 16 minutes remaining that capped a play stared by Hallie Widner (Meridian, ID) and Maddy Emerick (Billings, MT). Kailey Norman posted nine saves for the shutout as Air Force outshot the Griz 15-14. MORE [+]
Dixie State 4-4 Southern Utah
In a back-and-forth affair in which the Thunderbirds found themselves down 3-1 at one point, the hosts rallied back to tie and took the lead in the 78th minute on a goal from Chandler Yost (Pocatello, ID).
Eastern Washington 1-2 Fresno State
Opening up on the road, the Eagles found themselves trailing after 23 minutes, but pulled even just after the hour mark when Cassie Black beat the keeper and put it into the empty net. Unfortunately in the final seconds of the first overtime session a long throw-in that ricocheted off a Bronco player took another deflection off defender M'Kenna Hayes and into the goal to give the hosts the win. MORE [+]
Sunday, August 24
Montana 0-1 Wyoming
A hosts outshot the Grizzlies 17-11 in the game, but it was their fourth minute tally that was all they could muster, and needed. MORE [+]
Texas Christian 2-0 Idaho
The Horned Frogs controlled the match with a 19-5 advantage in shots. The took the lead off a corner in the 15th minute and the second barely went over the line on a 70th minute shot that came off the underside of the crossbar. MORE [+]
Eastern Washington 3-0 CSU Bakersfield
The Eagles bounced back with vigor in the second game of the California trip. After dominating a scoreless first half, the Eags got things going early in the second frame with Black scoring her second of the weekend with a finish from five yards in the 49th. She turned provider in the 61st on Savannah Hoekstra's (Liberty Lake, WA) goal and Alisha Stott tallied a second assist with a long ball that Paige Gallaway (Spokane, WA) put away from close range in the 78th. MORE [+]
Montana 2-0 Gonzaga
The Grizzlies ended a nine-game losing streak to the Zags, keeping the Gonzaga offense from finding any real spark during the game and using a pair of first half goals to grab the win. Chloe Torres set up both goals, finding Mackenzie Akins in the 20th minute and Allie Simon five minutes later for the second. INWsn REPORT [+]
Wyoming 2-3 Idaho State
Sanchez and Ellsworth continued to pair well together up top. After falling behind four minutes into the second half Ellsworth found the freshman striker in the 54th minute to put things level. A shot from Ellsworth lead to the go-ahead strike when it rebounded to Samantha Rodriguez in the 66th minute. The visitors tied it up in the 77th minute to force overtime where Ellsworth knocked in her own rebound for the win in the 98th. MORE [+]
Eastern Washington 4-0 Idaho
Though it was a non-league game, the Eagles posted a decisive victory in their first showdown with the Vandals as Big Sky members. Hoekstra netted her second of the season by taking a ball from Black and proceeding to beat the defender and firing from the top of the box in the 21st minute. Five minutes later Ua Ruedy finished off a cross from Chloe Williams (Spokane, WA). An Idaho own goal five minutes into the second half put a comeback out of reach and Gallaway capped the scoring less than three minutes later with a fantastic individual effort in which she drove around and through the Vandal defense before finishing from the top of the six (goal video). MORE [+]
Sunday, August 31
Montana 0-2 Washington State
See recap above in PAC-12 section. MORE (with vid) [+]
Idaho 0-5 Gonzaga
See recap above in WCC section. INWsn REPORT [+]
MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE
Friday, August 22
Drake 0-3 Boise State (@ Portland State)
Despite dominating from the opening, it was not until the second half that the Broncos broke the deadlock in the neutral site game. Kayla Tucker put away a cross in the 59th and Brooke Heidemann (Meridian, ID) doubled the lead with a fantastic individual effort four minutes later, winning the ball and taking it past the keeper outside the box for empty-netter from 25 yards. Sarah Taylor capped the scoring with five minutes left. MORE [+]
Sunday, August 24
Shannon Schueren capped a first half in which the Broncos outshot the hosts 6-2 with a free kick goal that deflected in off the keeper. The script reversed in the second half with the Vikings evening things up in the 55th as they posted an 8-2 advantage in shots. MORE [+]
Friday, August 29
Boise State 1-2 Utah
The Utes scored in the 24th and doubled the lead in the 75th with what proved to be the winner as the Broncos finally tallied in the 87th on a long shot from Kelsey Nicassio. MORE [+]
Sunday, August 31
Boise State 1-1 Utah Valley
Trailing since the 35th minute, the Broncos avoided the loss in the 86th minute when Heidemann found Kelli Drobney inside the box for the equalizer. MORE [+]
ADDITIONAL DI RESULTS & NOTES
Sarah Wood (Spokane, WA) started in four games for Cleveland State in goal. The first three were shutout losses at UC Santa Barbara, at Loyola Marymount and home against Western Michigan before a 6-0 rout at Chicago State in which she came out after 31 minutes with a three-goal lead... Kara Marbury (Spokane, WA) started her first four games as a freshman at Illinois, tallying an assist in her second game as the team started the season 3-1-0 with the lone loss a 3-1 defeat versus 16th-ranked Notre Dame in the opener... Freshman Hannah Holm (Spokane, WA) tallied an assist in her debut off the bench in Minnesota's 10-0 win at Stetson and saw action again in the team's fourth game as they started the season 3-1-0... Dani Crawford (Moses Lake) came off the bench in her debut with Hawaii and two games later scored the team's second goal off the bench in a 3-2 win against Northern Illinois as they started 2-2-0.
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