WSU soccer (2-1) hit the home turf this weekend, challenging Montana (3-1) on Thursday and Idaho (2-2) on Sunday. The Cougs swept both games, taking down Montana 3-0 and the Vandals 2-1.

After falling to Purdue in their season opener, head coach Todd Shulenbeger said the team’s success this past weekend was “a must.”

“Both of those teams, one won the conference tournament last year, one won the regular season tournament last year,” Shulenberger said.

Several standout performances littered the weekend. Idaho put up a fight during a competitive back-and-forth run. After an equalizer from the Vandals,  fifth-year transfer Julianna Duckett scored the Cougs’ game-winning goal. 

“We just kept getting corner after corner, and after they equalized, our team really just wanted to get one back,” Duckett said. “I just wanted to make sure I hit it on frame, and I really wanted to score for my team.”

The Cougs have never lost to Idaho at home. In front of a crowd of Sunday’s victory marked Shulenbeger’s 100th career win, upping his record with the Cougs to 100-55-23. 

Soccer’s victorious weekend also provided Anne McCoy with her first win as director of athletics.

The Cougs are back on the turf Sept. 1, traveling down to California to take on No. 2 Stanford (4-0). The Cardinal have proved to be a formidable opponent in the past, leading the all-time series over WSU at 27-2-3. A powerhouse program, the Cougs last beat Stanford in 2013.

The Cougs have busied themselves with preparation for the game, working on individual and team reports.

“They’re gonna know every little thing about Stanford,” Shulenberger said. “But [Stanford] is also gonna know what happened this past weekend as well.”

Kickoff is at 1 p.m. The game can be streamed on ESPN.