Wildcats, North Idaho play to tie in soccer

The Western Nevada women's college soccer team had an encouraging result in a 0-0 tie against North Idaho College on Friday in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

The Wildcats (7-4-2, 0-2-2 in the Scenic West Conference) will play North Idaho again on October 27 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho in the regionals for the right to go to the National Junior Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament.

The two teams battled to a scoreless tie after 110 minutes, which included two 10-minute overtime periods.

Wildcat coach Hillary Arthur said her team played much better on Friday than it did in its previous game, a 6-1 loss to Laramie County (Wyo.) Community College, which is ranked seventh in the country.

"We played a solid 110 minutes," Arthur said. "We definitely turned it around from last weekend. I'm very encouraged by our result. This definitely gives us a positive result to build on."

The Wildcats were also without two key players and another key player wasn't at full strength. Marina Tharin and Ashley Winter were both out and Alexia Balmaseda was still recovering from an enlarged kidney. Arthur said Balmaseda was at about 70 percent.

Western Nevada was outshot 17-5, but stepped it up defensively. Without Tharin on defense, among the defenders who made up for the loss of Tharin were Kim Duke and Cassie Romeo.

Arthur also said Jordan Forman, Virginia Loyola and Rachel Van Roy, who played all 110 minutes, also played well at midfield. Goalie Allie Otto posted the shutout.

"We had a lot of people step up for us," Arthur said.

The Wildcats will next play today against Great Falls University in Coeur d'Alene.