Women's soccer gets back on track with 3-1 win over Idaho State

GREELEY – The Northern Colorado women's soccer team got its second conference win of the season Sunday afternoon with a 3-1 home win over Idaho State.

The Bears (5-7-3, 2-1 Big Sky) were powered by a pair of freshmen at Jackson Stadium on Sunday, with newcomers Juliana Grover and Madison Yoswa getting the first two goals of the game.

The game-winner came in the 58th minute, when Yoswa scored her second goal of the season off a corner-kick taken by senior Kimmie Feidler. It was the second time in as many games that Feidler earned an assist off a corner set-piece.

"I thought we brought better focus today knowing that it was extremely important for us to get a win," Northern Colorado coach Tim Barrera said. "We only get four conference games at home and this was already our third. We need to get maximum points at home, so getting was win was critical.

"We didn't talk about it much, but the players all knew. They all knew we have to go on the road next week and getting a win today was important."

Grover, a Littleton, Colo. native, opened up the scoring in the 37th minute. Her first career goal as a Bear came after Tara Rickenbach took a shot that Bengals goalkeeper Carly Hutchings-Maloney couldn't smother. The shot bounced in front of Grover, who knew what to do from there.

After Yoswa's goal made the score 2-0, the Bears looked like they had the game in hand until the 87th minute, when Ashley Jones made the game interesting. Allyson Stainbrook quickly took a free-kick from the corner that found Jones's head and then the back of the net.

Northern Colorado didn't waste any time reestablishing control though. A little more than 30 seconds after Jones scored for the Bengals, senior Ariel Cook iced the game for Northern Colorado. Cook's goal came off a Yoswa free-kick that rolled into the box that the senior forward redirected into the net.

"Since we had the double-overtime game on Friday, one of the things we tried to do today was play more players," Barrera said. "We got some rest for our starters today and our bench was productive. Also, getting a couple goals from freshmen is exciting for us."

Although both teams dished out 19 shots each, the Bears managed to hold the advantage in shots on goal with a 9-5 advantage.

Northern Colorado's Big Sky schedule takes the team on the road for the next three matches. The road-trip begins on Friday, Oct. 14 when the Bears take on Portland State.

"Playing on the road in the Big Sky is tough," Barrera said. "It's tough travel and the fields are all different. We know it's important to get points on the road and next weekend, obviously with just four conference games left, it's time to get some points."