Idaho State
Idaho State comes into Friday's 1:30 p.m. (PT) match with a 2-1-1 record after going 1-0-1 last weekend. The Bengals beat College of Idaho, 4-1, and tied Utah State, 0-0. ISU's lone loss this season is a 5-0 setback at No. 22 Marquette. The Bengals return 14 letterwinners and eight starters from the team that went 10-8 and finished third in the Big Sky last season.
ISU is coached by Allison Gibson, who is in her fifth year with the program. She has a career record of 32-35-12, all of which came at Idaho State.
Six Bengals have registered a goal so far this season and four have registered at least one assist. Sophomore forward Laura Perez and sophomore midfielder Rachel Strawn lead the team with six points apiece. Each has scored once and assisted two goals.
ISU has scored six goals on 31 shots and has given up just seven goals on 71 attempts allowed. Goalkeeper Bailey Williams, a junior, earned Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week honors after holding C of I and USU scoreless in her 155 minutes in goal last weekend.
The all-time series is tied, 4-4-3. Idaho has taken the last two meetings in the series, including a 2-1 win last year in the Governor's Cup at Boise. Idaho is 0-3-1 when playing the Bengals in Pocatello.
Utah Valley
The Vandals will meet Utah Valley for the fourth time in program history on Sunday at 10 a.m. (PT). UVU is 1-3 on the season after falling to Texas State and UTEP last weekend. UVU won the Great West Conference title last season and returned 17 letter winners and seven starters from that squad for 2010. The Wolverines are coached by Brent Anderson, who is 34-43-5 in his fifth year with the team.
Three UVU players have been credited with goals so far this year. Senior forward Nicole Spencer scored the game-winner against Southern Utah on Aug. 20 and also leads the team with 9 shot attempts so far this year. Junior midfielder Camille Broderick and sophomore defender Whitney Fuller scored the other two Wolverine goals this season.
Defensively, UVU has used two keepers evenly. Senior Hailey Brown and redshirt freshman Lauren Sack have each played 180 minutes, with Brown allowing three goals and Sack giving up five. Brown started both games last weekend.
With a win on Sunday, Idaho can tie the all-time series at 2-2-0. The Vandals won last year's meeting by a 3-1 margin at Guy Wicks Field. In that game, Idaho's Chelsea Small earned her first career game-winner and Jenn Hull dished out a pair of assists. Sunday will be the first game between the two teams played at a neutral site.
