Idaho State vs. Idaho postgame blog

Idaho State 2, Idaho 0

For a full game recap, click here.

Star of the game: Team chemistry. Winning is fun, and the 2-0 Bengals are having a blast right now. But two games into the regular season and it’s clear the 24 players on coach Allison Gibson’s roster like each other, regardless if they’re winning or not.

Even this past summer, Gibson stressed the importance of welcoming the new freshmen recruits, saying she doesn’t allow hazing on her team.

Allyson Stainbrook, one of the six Idaho State seniors, said, “ Our seniors leaving last year, they were really strong. ... They helped with our overall team connection. The team chemistry is everything. We may not be the best team all the time, but we work the hardest. I think that helps a lot.”

Second star: Amanda Ellsworth. Through two games, the junior has two goals and an assist. She’s stellar around the goal. But she’s a hero of the game because of her leadership.

Gibson says Ellsworth has taken Jessica Sanchez under her wing, and that’s making all the difference for the talented freshman from Silverdale, Wash., who scored her first career goal against the Vandals.

ZERO of the game: The refs. I’m not one to call out referees. I truly believe they do everything they can to call a game fairly and professionally.

But the second half between the Bengals and Vandals got out of hand. Both teams were taking pot shots at one another after plays were dead. ISU fans will point to the Idaho players as the instigators — and to an extent that’s right — but the Bengals got their shots in.

It took too long for the head referee to grab control of the situation, putting players from both sides in danger.

On another note, Sanchez, along with her first goal, picked up her first yellow card. She had a couple funny comments to say about it afterwards.

“I’m not a mean person so that’s really not me,” she said. “But to have one in the belt intimidates a couple of people, I guess.

“She was pulling my jersey and then afterward I kind of retaliated and pushed her off me. That was the foul. He (the referee) was saying, ‘12!’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, go get ’em!’ But then he was talking to me and that was embarrassing.”