POCATELLO, Idaho - The Southern Utah soccer team continued Big Sky play on Sunday afternoon, dropping a close match to the Idaho State Bengals 0-1.

"It was going to be combative with two teams working really hard," head coach Fred Thompson said. "I thought both teams put out an honest effort and went out there trying to get something out of the game. I thought we were more aggressive and forward thinking today which is good. We could have been more precise, but that is still a work in progress."

The Thunderbirds and Bengals played a tight game with both teams trading shots in the first half. Southern Utah outshot ISU 3-2 in shots on goal in the opening half.

The Bengals got on the board in the 65th minute when a shot headed towards the goal took an unfortunate rebound as it was saved by SUU goalkeeper Brianna Aldridge right to another Bengal who tapped it in for the goal.

MaKenzie Lawrence and Jacqueline Villanueva had two shots on goal each as the Thunderbirds created opportunities, but they would be able to get on the board, losing the match 0-1.

Aldridge made a career-high 13 saves in the match. The Thunderbirds took 13 shots as a team, their second-highest total on the season.

"Right now we are looking at how many games we will need to get into the tournament," Thompson said. "Hopefully the five home games we have left will be good momentum for us. We have to take them one at a time and after each game we will reevaluate and see what we have to do next."

Southern Utah will be back in action next Sunday at home as they host Northern Arizona.

Follow Us

Stay up to date during the 2018 Thunderbird soccer season by following @SUUSoccer on Twitter and Instagram and liking the Southern Utah Soccer page on Facebook.