ISU Bengal

Issue date: 9/12/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Alastair Nee # 12 Jana Boehler sneaks one past the Boise State Goal keeper to put the Lady Bengals up 1-0.

Media Credit: Alastair Nee # 12 Jana Boehler chases down the ball against Boise State.

Media Credit: Alastair Nee # 10 Michelle Okumura hugs # 2 Natalie Graham, after she scores a goal putting the Lady Bengals up 3-2.

Media Credit: Alastair Nee # 21 Jenny Ford boots the ball upfield during the game against Boise State.

Idaho State came into this year's Governor's Cup tournament as the defending champions, looking to repeat, and continued playing like champions as they defeated the Boise State Broncos 5-2 on Friday and the Idaho Vandals 2-0 on Sunday.
On Friday the 7th the ISU Bengals faced the Boise State Broncos for their first game of the Governor's Cup tournament. It was a beautiful weekend for Soccer in Pocatello and the games drew many fans to Davis Field for the Governor's Cup. It was easy to be entertained this year as both games during the tournament were filled with action, intense rivalries, excellent play on both sides of the ball, suspense and another Governor's Cup for the Idaho State Bengals.
Against the Broncos ISU quickly took the lead 2-0 early in the first half, first on a goal from Jana Boehler assisted from Anna Marie Hofstetter and then followed by a goal from Chelsea Cox assisted from Michelle Okumura. BSU scored one goal with a minute left in the first half to keep them in the game and then a second goal early in the second half to tie the game. Just when it looked to be a close finish, the Bengals scored 3 unanswered goals late in the second half. Okumura scored the first one on an assist from Kilee Quigley, which was followed up, not long after, by a goal from Jenny Ford making the score 4-2 and securing a solid lead late in the game. Finally the Bengal's sealed the deal with a 5th and final goal from Lauren Hough. The Bengal's seemed to be much more athletic and driven than the Broncos on Friday, which would be tested against the physical play of the Idaho Vandals' on Sunday.
The ISU Bengal's went up against a much more physical team on Sunday. The Vandal's committed 20 fouls compared to ISU's six, but Idaho State still controlled the game, registering a season high 24 shots and holding Idaho to only 10 shots. Idaho State keeper Maren Eves, had four saves on the day and the Bengal's scored two goals late in the 2nd half to give them the win, and their second straight Governor's Cup. Both teams went scoreless in the first half, as both teams defended their side of the field very well, and it seemed as though it would be another scoreless second half until, with just eight minutes left to go in the game, Jana Boehler scored a goal that bounced off of the goal post into the net, giving the team and the crowd a burst of energy. Crosby Joyner took away the Vandal's hopes of tying the game, scoring the final goal of the day, on an assist from Jana Boehler with 5:38 minutes left in the game. The Bengals won the game on the beautiful Sunday afternoon at Davis field and achieved their goal of keeping the Governor's Cup title in Pocatello for yet another year.
After winning these two emotional in-state rivalry games, the Bengal's record moves to 2-1-1 overall. However, there are "a lot of games ahead of us" said Coach Gibson, starting with another emotional rivalry game against the University of Utah at 7:30 p.m. on Friday night in Salt Lake City. It was Utah that ended the hopes of last year's team when they defeated ISU in a heartbreaker that put them out of the NCAA Tournament. To prepare for this game Head Coach Allison Gibson said, "We're going to keep calm, stay with the game plan, do our homework and work hard." With the way the soccer team is playing, it will be very interesting and exciting to see them go against the Utes of Utah as they will try to avenge the loss of last year, and prepare for conference play.

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