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Bronco Soccer clinches WAC tournament berth
Matt Bedinger, Journalist
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JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER Boise State forward Shannon Saxton battles with Hawaii defenders during Boise State's 2-1 win over the Warriors on October 30, 2009.
The Boise State women’s soccer team defeated Hawai’i Friday 2-1. The win secured a spot in the WAC tournament and knock Hawai’i, Idaho and Louisiana Tech out of contention.
Hawai’i midfielder Mari Punzai put the Rainbow Wahine in front in the 13th minute with a 30-yard chip shot that sailed over sophomore goalkeeper Liz Ruiz’s head and off her fingertips.
“I was in the midfield and a square ball was passed across and the other girl was left unmarked. It’s about marking. Everybody just has to keep their man and not allow free shots,” said senior midfielder Kaylea Perenon.
Moments later, the Boise State defense had a misscommunication that led to a one on one situation for Ruiz. She ripped a shot which shot over the top from about 18 yards out. In the 20th minute, the Broncos almost equalized the score. Hawai’i goalkeeper Kanani Taaca failed to clear the ball in a scrum near the top of the 18-yard line. A Bronco player fired a shot toward the goal with Taaca still off her line, but the Hawai’i defense cleared the ball from 6 yards out to keep it 1-0 at the half.
In the 67th minute, things turned Boise State’s way. Junior forward Shannon Saxton hit a strike toward the goal that was blocked by a sea of defenders. Junior midfielder Cheyenne Jones picked up the rebound and shot toward goal, but Hawaii’s Taaca made the save. Taaca allowed the rebound to go straight back to Jones, who hit another shot on goal, which was handballed by Punzai in the box. Sophomore midfielder Brandy Hickcox stepped up to take the resulting penalty kick and buried it to tie the game at 1-1.
“I thought Cheyenne wanted to take it, but she said she didn’t want to so I just said I would step up to the plate and take it and hopefully get the team going from a goal,” Hickcox said.
Eight minutes later, the Broncos had a free kick from deep on the left. Freshman midfielder Maureen Fitzgerald sent a cross into the box, which was flicked back across goal by sophomore midfielder Chelsea Robinson. Kaylea Perenon jumped on the cross, putting the ball in the back of the net for the game-winning goal and securing a WAC tournament berth for the Broncos.
“I knew she was going to flick it because last weekend that’s just how another goal got scored. It was the same people even,” said Perenon. “We had to win one of these games this weekend to get into the tournament so it was really important to win this first one and not have to rely on winning the second.”
The Broncos concluded their regular season with a victory over WAC leader San Jose State on Sunday by the score of 1-0.
BSU finished with a 10-6-4, 5-3-0 WAC, record. The first round of the WAC Championships begin Thursday in Boise, Idaho.