Freshman Erica Parks from
Nampa
scored the only goal of the contest in the 58th minute as
Boise
State
held off
Utah
State
1-0 in the semifinals of the Western Athletic Conference Soccer Tournament
yesterday afternoon in
Boise
. The Broncos will face
Nevada
today at
1 p.m.
at the Boas Soccer and Tennis Complex for the WAC title.
"Erica did a great
job of finishing on that goal," said head coach Steve Lucas. "We
talked about needing to take advantage of whatever chances we had against
Utah
State
as they are good.
She finished strong on the play and we got the goal we needed."
It was a defensive struggle throughout and scoring
opportunities were at a premium. The
teams went into the break scoreless. Eight minutes into the second half, freshman
Maureen Fitzgerald set up Parks with a beautiful pass.
Parks brilliantly split a pair of Aggie defenders and sent a shot that
found the net inside the right post. It
was Parks’ second goal of the tournament and eighth of the season, as
Fitzgerald contributed her team-leading sixth assist of the year.
The keepers ruled the final 32 minutes and the goal held up
to advance the Broncos into the championship game this afternoon.
Boise
State
(
12-6-4
) set a school record for victories and has now won five consecutive matches.
Nevada
comes into the game fresh from an upset of #1 seed
San Jose
State
, also by the same count of 1-0.
Final Game Summary
Western Athletic
Conference Tournament
Utah State
(10-9-2) vs. Boise State (12-6-4)
11/06/09 at Boise, Idaho
Attendance: 459
Weather: mid 50’s,overcast w/rain
Goals by period 1 2 Tot
-------------------------------
Utah State.......... 0 0 - 0
Boise State......... 0 1 - 1
SCORING
SUMMARY:
1. 57:27 BSU Parks,
Erica (7) (Fitzgerald,
Maureen) - split two defenders scored from 10 yards inside far right
post
Shots: Utah State 12, Boise State 14
Shots on Goal: Utah State 1, Boise State 4
Saves: Utah State 3 (Merrill, Molli 3), Boise State 1 (Ruiz,
Liz 1)
