Up to Speed: Weekly recap of Bronco sports

Two freshmen lead the Boise State women’s soccer team to their first victory

In the Boise State women’s soccer exhibition match on Aug. 18, freshman midfielders Michaela Justiniani and Kenzie MacMillan scored for the Broncos to beat the Yotes from the College of Idaho 2-1.

The Broncos started off aggressive with five shots on goal in the first 15 minutes of play. But it came down to the 17th minute when sophomore midfielder Morgan Miles fed Justiniani the ball to deliver a strike past the goalkeeper. 

On defense, the Broncos were able to shut down the Yotes and only allow five shots throughout the first half. Sophomore goalkeeper Genevieve Crenshaw made three saves to keep the score 1-0 heading into halftime. 

During the second half, the Yotes were able to break through the Bronco defense and score. With the game tied, MacMillan scored in the 76th minute to start the season with a victory. 

After scoring with a broken cleat, the Boise State women’s soccer team beats the University of Utah 1-0

Hitting the road, the Boise State women’s soccer team beat the University of Utah 1-0 in their first regular-season match on Aug. 22 in Salt Lake City. 

The score remained 0-0 throughout the first half as both teams battled on offense and defense. Senior goalkeeper Sydney Smith made a diving save to keep the Utes off the scoreboard. 

“For Utah, if we let them play they’re phenomenal and they’re going to destroy us,” said head coach Jim Thomas. “We had to disrupt them and make them uncomfortable, and that gave us the energy to then go and counter and feel like we had a foot in the game.”

In the 74th minute, the Broncos had a throw-in that landed in the Utes’ penalty box. 

Redshirt freshman forward/midfielder Sophie Drown attempted to score, but the shot was blocked by the goalkeeper. However, freshman midfielder Kenzie MacMillan was there to put the ball in the back of the net despite having a broken cleat. 

Four Broncos, four goals in the Boise State women’s soccer home opener against Dixie State

In their home opening match against Dixie State on Aug. 26, the Boise State women’s soccer team had four Broncos score their first goals of the season. 

Four was the Broncos lucky number in this match. In the fourth minute of play, junior forward Keile Hansen scored to give her team an early lead. About eight minutes later, senior defender Abby Bivens dribbled the ball up the field and delivered a strike into the back of the net. 

Senior goalkeeper Sydney Smith made an acrobatic save to keep the Trailblazers off the board. 

In the second half, redshirt freshman forward/midfielder Sophie Drown scored the first goal of her collegiate career. Two minutes later sophomore forward Mia Burns scored another goal for the Broncos to bring her team to a final score of 4-0. 

Boise State women’s volleyball team starts season strong with 3-1 win over Dixie State

Coming off of a spring season due to the pandemic, the Boise State women’s volleyball team beat Dixie State 3-1 in their season home opener and first match of the Boise State Invitational on Aug. 27. 

In the first two sets, the Broncos and Trailblazers battled to a tie of 1-1. In the third set, the Broncos came back to hit a match-high hitting percentage of 0.448. 

Junior outside hitter Lauren Ohlinger led her team to victory with a double-double of 20 kills and 14 digs. Senior outside hitter Shae Duffy followed with nine kills, one service ace, two block assists and 11 points. 

The Broncos hit 0.209 and held the Trailblazers to a 0.115 hitting percentage in order to win the first, third and fourth sets. 

Women’s volleyball comes back to win 3-2 after Long Beach State’s two-set lead

After their win against Dixie State, the Boise State women’s volleyball team finished out the evening of Aug. 27 with a challenging win against Long Beach State. 

The Broncos were down in the first two sets but came back to claim victory in the third, fourth and fifth sets. 

Junior Lauren Ohlinger and sophomore Kayly Pau, both outside hitters, combined for 25 kills to lead the team to hit 0.167 compared to Long Beach’s 0.137 hitting percentage. 

However, the match came down to the fifth set where Boise State first took the lead. Long Beach rallied to tie the set 12-12. Pau had a kill to tie the set again 17-17, but it was Ohlinger who brought it home for the Broncos with two kills and the match-winner off a block. 

Wrapping up the Boise State Invitational, women’s volleyball loses to Montana State 3-1

Boise State women’s volleyball had a slow start in the first two sets against Montana State on Aug. 28 in their final match of the Boise State Invitational.

In the third set, the Broncos rallied to win by five points. Junior outside hitter Lauren Ohlinger set a team and season high of four service aces along with eight digs, one block and 14 kills.

Ultimately, the Bobcats came back in the fourth set to beat the Broncos 3-1. 

Boise State women’s soccer senior scores in double overtime to beat Pacific

After a hard-fought battle against the University of the Pacific, the Boise State women’s soccer game on Aug. 29 went into double overtime. With both teams playing aggressively on defense, the offense had difficulty getting close to the net. 

Early in the second overtime, senior forward Dorian Goodwin collected the ball from senior defender Abby Bivens. Goodwin fired a shot that curled into the back of the net past the goalkeeper’s hands. Bronco Nation and her team went wild. 

“I’m so proud of Dorian,” said Thomas. “The amount of ground that kid covers on the pitch is unbelievable. Goals have been sparse for her but not due to effort or quality, and she got a beautiful one today.”

The Broncos beat the Tigers 1-0 to wrap up their week of play.