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Broncos down Utah State; WAC title game next
Matt Bedinger, Journalist
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JOSH RASMUSSEN/THE ARBITER Broncos' forward Shannon Saxton carries the ball during their first round WAC Championship match. BSU plays Nevada in the title match Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Boas Soccer Complex
Freshman forward Erica Parks scored the lone goal in the 58th minute for a 1-0 win over Utah State to send the Broncos into the Western Athletic Conference Championship, where they will play Nevada.
The game was very defense oriented, with a lot of the play taking place in the middle third of the field. At halftime, each team had just one shot on goal and scoring chances were limited.
Eleven minutes in, junior forward Shannon Saxton picked off a bad back pass by a Utah State defender, but hit it straight to Aggies’ sophomore goalkeeper Molli Merrill from 18 yards out.
In the 25th minute, a turnover by BSU led to a USU opportunity, but freshman defender Adrienne Lommasson was able to clear the ball out of danger twice and preserve the clean slate.
With six minutes remaining in the first half, Parks received a square ball at the top of the box unmarked, but mis-hit it off the side of her foot and out of bounds for a goal kick.
“The way we were playing, we had to keep it up and just pick up the tempo. Obviously, second half, one team plays down and the other team picks it up so that was the main thing we were going to think about in the locker room,” senior midfielder Kaylea Perenon said.
The action picked up a bit in the second half, starting in the 56th minute. The Aggies committed a foul at the top of the 18-yard box and freshman midfielder Maureen Fitzgerald put the ensuing shot on frame, but Merrill tipped it over the bar for a corner kick. After the corner kick was kicked out of bounds for a goal kick, Boise State capitalized on a Utah State error. Merrill kicked the ball to the middle of the field 40 yards, where Fitzgerald hit a pass between two defenders. Parks split the defenders, and while off balance, finished with her left foot in the bottom right side netting from six yards out to give the Broncos a 1-0 advantage.
“One of my midfielders headed it and I was going after it, and before I got sandwiched, I toe-poked it. It just went in,” Parks said.
Just two minutes later, the Aggies almost equalized. A dangerous scrum in the box was cleared without USU getting a shot on goal. In the 60th minute, a BSU free kick almost led to another score, as Perenon’s shot was blocked from six yards out.
There was a scary moment in the 77th minute, when a hard challenge from sophomore midfielder Chelsea Robinson left her and USU’s Natalie Norris on the ground. Robinson was given a yellow card and both players were able to walk off and return to play.
With eight minutes left to play, the aggies had their best opportunity. Forward Lauren Hansen received a ball at the top of the 18-yard box, surrounded by three Bronco defenders. As she turned the ball, she beat the two defenders in front of her and found herself open with only sophomore goalkeeper Liz Ruiz left. Hansen shot from the top of the box over the bar and the Broncos were gifted with a goal kick. The remaining time was dominated by a Bronco defense that has allowed just 0.81 goals per game this year and the score stood up at 1-0.
“It feels amazing. We’ve never done this before and gotten this far, but it’s not over yet. We’ve got tomorrow and we’re going to be ready on Sunday,” Perenon said.
Boise State plays Nevada for the WAC championship Sunday at 1 p.m. MT.
Nevada won its semifinal game against top-ranked San Jose State 2-1 in overtime.
“As a Bronco, we don’t worry about the other team. We go out there and we do what we need to do. It keeps giving us the results we want so we’re just going to keep doing it. We’re not changing anything,” Parks said.