MOSCOW, Idaho—The Vandal soccer team opened up their home schedule Friday at Guy Wicks Field with a hard fought loss to future Big Sky rivals Eastern Washington. The Eagles gained a 2-0 lead but Idaho clawed back into the game in the second halfultimately falling short, 2-1.

“To give up a goal two, three minutes into a game is not good enough,” head coach Pete Showler said. “We have to be better. We need to take care of those things.”

The scoring got started in the early goings. Eastern Washington’s Cassie Black hit hard shot from 18 yards out that cleared the fingertips of Idaho keeper Marina Siegl and snuck below the crossbar, giving the Eagles a 1-0 lead in the third minute. The rest of the first half was played evenly across the board. EWU (1-5-0) took an 8-5 shot advantage into the half and led 3-2 in shots on goal.

The Vandals came out in the second half with fire in their eyes. They outshot the Eagles 9-6 in the half with five of those nine attempts coming on net. An Idaho communication error allowed the Eagles to gain the 2-0 advantage in the 70th minute. EWU’s Haley Stading played the ball up to Alisha Stott. Stott played chase to the ball toward the net along with an Idaho defender. Idaho keeper Torell Stewart came out to play the ball and collided with the defender, leaving Stott with a wide open net.

Nine minutes later the Vandals cut lead by one off the foot of junior Katie Baran. The sequence started with a cross from the right side of the field. The ball was shot on keeper Nathalie Schwery who made the initial save but allowed the rebound to come out to Baran. The Nine Mile Falls, Wash., native pounced on the rebound and fired it from 10 yards out to the back of the net.

“Once we got the goal our energy levels picked up,” Showler stated. “We did some very good things in the midfield and with the forwards. We just cannot give up goals like that and we need to have the mentality that it will not happen again.”

The final 12 minutes of play the Vandals pushed hard and forced the Eagles to slow down the pace. Idaho (0-6-0) had chances to even out the score and play into extra time. Its best chance came from freshman Kaysha Darcy, who got a shot on goal in the 81st minute but the ball found its way to Schwery.

The Vandals will return to Wicks Field on Sunday at 11:00 a.m. PT to face the Rebels of UNLV.