Broncos' Magical Run Ends in MW Championship Final

Saturday, November 6

Boise, Idaho

Noon MT

Boise State

11-7-4, 4-4-3

#1 New Mexico (Final)

14-4-2, 7-2-2

Boise St.

New Mexico

11/6/2021 5:09:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

BOISE, Idaho – Nineteen days ago the Boise State women's soccer team sat 11th in the Mountain West standings and postseason dreams seemed to be dashed. On the final day of the regular season, they clinched the sixth and final qualifying spot for the MW Championship. A few days later they upset third-seeded San Diego State in the first round, then became the first No. 6 seed to qualify for the MW Championship after advancing past Fresno State on a 6-5 penalty kick shootout. But a MW title just was not meant to be as Boise State fell to New Mexico 2-1 in overtime of the MW Championship final Saturday afternoon at Boas Soccer complex.

"When you look at a whole season it's usually a roller coaster of opportunity and emotion," said head coach Jim Thomas. "An individual 90 minutes is no different. Today we went down early, then came back. The crowd was epic, as was the performances of some of these players that have so many minutes under their legs it's hard to even wrap your head around that they're still out working. Everything seems to be refined down into a 90-minute period. That's why we all love the game, because of the drama. I'm just proud of how we responded in the game."

Saturday's contest began with the Lobos in control as they took the first three shots of the match in the opening 15 minutes. Boise State did well to mitigate the danger until, in the 33rd minute, New Mexico's Madi Hirschman took a shot that made a tricky bounce past goalkeeper Sydney Smith, bounced off the right post and slowly rolled across the line for the opening goal. The rest of the first half proved uneventful and the Broncos entered the locker room down a goal.

Boise State opened the second half with a furious offensive attack that generated three shots in the first three minutes. One of the shots came at the end of a nifty run by defender Abby Bivens who attempted to curl the ball past the keeper, but it took a bounce off the post and wide.

The Broncos continued to push offensively and in the 79th minute Morgan Stone finally broke through for the Blue and Orange as she sent home a ball that was delivered to her by Carly Cross, tying the match and bringing a roar over Boas Soccer Complex.

A minute later, Mia Burns nearly won the match for Boise State as she rushed the keeper and had the ball deflect off her shoulder toward the goal, but it rolled just wide of the net and the match headed to overtime.

In the overtime period, New Mexico's Jadyn Edwards – the MW Offensive Player of the Year – scored in the opening minute, bringing Boise State's postseason run to an end.

Bronco Nation came out in full support of its team with an attendance total of 1,272, the second-largest crowd in program history behind the MW Championship final in 2019.

Three Broncos were named to the 2021 All-Tournament Team, as Aubree Chatterton, Macie Nelson and Sydney Smith heard their names called after stellar performances in all three matches.

Boise State finished the season with an overall record of 11-7-4, the fourth-straight season with 10 or more wins barring the shortened 2021 spring campaign. It was the fifth-straight trip to the MW tournament for the Blue and Orange, and the second-straight trip to the final.

"We have championship DNA in this program, and we'll continue to develop our players with the idea of being in big matches and being able to handle that moment the way we handled it today," said Thomas. "The championship DNA has been here for a number of years now and we will continue to breed that."