On the Road with ISU Soccer: Prepartion for the Big Sky Tournament

The Bengal soccer team will play in its sixth Big Sky Conference tournament this Friday, November 6 at the PCC-Rock Creek at 2:30 pm MT. Idaho State left for the tournament on Wednesday morning. For fans who don't want to miss a minute of the action here is a recap of what the Bengals have been up to since they left Pocatello.

Idaho State pulled out of the Davis Field parking lot at 9:30 a.m on Wednesday and headed West to Boise. The Bengals pulled into Meridian High School in the afternoon and held practice on their field. It was a special treat for Alishia Cairl because she is a graduate of Meridian High and was able to partake in a little bit of a homecoming. The field was also a nice advantage for all the Bengals as Meridian High houses an artificial turf similar what the Bengals will be playing on in the Big Sky tournament.

It was a good practice as the Bengals are ready to fight for the championship. Everyone was in high spirits. After a quick lunch from Subway ISU hit the road again with Pendleton, Oregon as the destination (the hometown of ISU's graduate assistant Jaime Schroeder. Who is extremely jealous that she could not make the trip. The Bengals rolled into town with enough time to grab dinner at Shari's before heading to bed.

ISU hit the road again in the morning on Thursday arriving in Portland around noon. The girls grabbed lunch in town before heading to the Portland State football/soccer practice field. The Bengals had a light practice, but it was full of intensity. I heard several players comment about how they couldn't wait to play Eastern Washington or how the players wanted to get redemption from their previous loss to the Eagles in a 1-0 matchup in Cheney, Wash.

Junior Lauren Hough seemed especially fired up about the game and showed it by being able to "write" ISU in the practice field turf when she drew the letters with her foot on the artificial field. I was able to take several photos of ISU's practice at Portland State today so fans could follow along which are scattered throughout this blog post. Fans can also follow the Bengals progress during the semifinals of the Big Sky tournament on Portland State's live stats.

During the practice I was able to talk to Matt Scheerer, the Portland State Sports Information Director (SID) and was assured that he will do all he can to get game photos as soon as the matches are over. Thought Matt is able to provide live stats, he will be the only one with Internet capability as he will be directly connected, while I on the other hand will be forced to wait until we return to the hotel to post my story.

Currently the Bengals are tucked in their beds as they attempt to get a good night's rest before the semifinal game. Surely the Bengals will be having sweet dreams of victory that will pump them up for tomorrow's match.

--Katie Zigars
ISU Assistant SID