Late goal gives Coyotes win in first game at new field

It took 85 minutes for first-year Amanda Carpio and the Coyote women’s soccer team to score the first and only goal in the first match at USD’s brand new First Bank & Trust Soccer Complex against the Idaho Vandals.

The first half was a stalemate. Although Idaho unleashed seven shots to the Coyotes’ two, neither team managed to get one into the back of the net. The second half again saw Idaho take seven shots but none made it past the Coyotes’ trio of keepers, junior Sydney Hardin and sophomores Parker Rytz and Coral Suarez.

USD head coach Mandy Green noted that the team is trying to find which keeper will earn the starting spot.

“All three of them have done a great job in practice and all three of them have different strengths to them,” Green said. “We felt all of them deserved a chance to get in the goal.”

Throughout the second half, the Coyotes worked to pressure Idaho on both sides of the ball. This resulted in a shot by senior Corey Strang that was deflected by the Vandal keeper and put in by Carpio who had only been back in the game for six minutes.

“I came in in the last 10 minutes and they told me to really focus on high energy and that’s what I did,” Carpio said. “I just really wanted to focus on bringing the best energy that I could and it was great and I think it lead to a goal.”

This win came in front of a bigger crowd than the Coyotes’ old field could accommodate. This crowd included many other USD athletes, including members of the volleyball team and men’s basketball team, as well as head football coach Bob Nielson.

“Winning will get butts in the seats right? I think the success of women’s basketball, I think football doing a lot of great things in the offseason, all of our sports teams are getting better and better,” Green said.

The support of the other student athletes at USD is something every team can draw from and the new complex, as well as winning, will help the Coyotes get even more support, said Green.

“I saw a lot of sports teams up there, USD sports teams supporting us, which is great and I know our team really enjoys going to watch other USD athletic teams, so if we can keep winning I think we’ll see more and more people in the stands,” she said.” It’s not even a comparison to that silly 50 seat bleacher we had before. It’s definitely a Division I complex.”