CEDAR CITY, Utah -- In their ninth match of the season, Southern Utah University collected their fifth loss. The 3-2 defeat against Idaho State University puts the Thunderbirds at 0-5-4 on the season.

All the scoring took place in the second half, with the Bengals landing the first punch. Kaylyn Buchanan scored the first goal for Idaho State less than three minutes into the second half, assisted by Rachel Fullmer. It did not take long for the Bengals to take advantage of the momentum as Callie Kitagawa-Mullen scored another goal just a little over eight minutes later.

The Thunderbirds would not back down without a fight as defender Jenna Grider found herself heading the ball into the net for her first career goal and the first SUU score of the night. The glory of Grider's goal was cut short when, seven minutes later, Mary Za capitalized on a penalty kick opportunity to put Idaho State up 3-1. SUU managed to score once more with a Whitney Gardner goal off a Sammie Sofonia assist, but the Thunderbirds were unable to complete the comeback.

Quotes From Kai Edwards
"Idaho State played hard, they capitalized on some critical mistakes we made and and that is what cost us. The important thing during this part of the season is to learn from all the lessons, whether good or bad there is always something to take away. Everybody is 0-0-0 starting conference play. We will have learned from our mistakes and our successes. Come next week we will be more disciplined and we will be ready to go."

What's Next

SUU soccer will now set its sights on Utah Tech University for a Sept. 22 matchup. The first game of conference play will be hosted by Utah Tech at 5:00 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.

Written by: Anden Garfield

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