‘Nothing that they’ll back down from.’ Boise State women’s soccer one win from NCAAs

The Boise State women’s soccer team has qualified for the NCAA Tournament twice in program history.

Trip No. 3 is only a win away.

The Broncos defeated host San Diego State 3-2 in the semifinals of the Mountain West Tournament on Wednesday night at SDSU Sports Deck in San Diego. They’ll face No. 25 Utah State (17-1-4) for the conference tournament title at 7 p.m. Mountain time Saturday with an NCAA berth up for grabs.

The game will be streamed live on the Mountain West Network.

Sophomore forward Asia Lawyer — a Centennial High graduate — played a key role in a huge second half for the Broncos. After falling behind 1-0 at the break, Boise State netted three second-half goals, with Lawyer assisting on one and scoring her first career goal in the 75th minute for a 3-1 lead.

“That kid’s willing to put her face and head on the line to set up a goal and gets one herself,” Boise State coach Jim Thomas told the Mountain West Network. “That is the heart and soul of what we are. Every player on our team would have done the same thing.

“I’m just so proud of Asia for doing that, and it kind of embodies our season and what we needed to do to beat a tremendous, tremendous San Diego State team.”

Senior forward Carly Cross — the reigning Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year — scored the equalizer for the Broncos (16-3-2) in the 48th. Lawyer then assisted on senior midfielder Morgan Padour’s goal in the 75th when she laid out to head the ball to the feet of Padour.

A little more than two minutes later, Lawyer scored a goal of her own.

“It’s fun when you can see a player that hasn’t really had a prominent role showcase that she’s capable as much as a kid like Carly Cross,” Thomas said.

Last week, the Broncos wrapped up their first outright Mountain West regular-season title in program history, earning the right to host next year’s conference tournament at the Boas Soccer Complex in Boise. They previously shared regular-season honors in 2018 and 2019.

Saturday’s match will mark Boise State’s fourth appearance in the Mountain West title game, but first since a 2-1 double-overtime loss to New Mexico in 2021.

Boise State last made the NCAA Tournament in 2019, losing 5-1 to fourth-ranked and unbeaten BYU. The Broncos’ only other tournament appearance came in 2009 while a member of the Western Athletic Conference.

“We’ve been knocking on the door a lot, and winning in these moments takes performances like you saw tonight,” Thomas said. “That’s really, really hard to expect of anybody, but you have to come to these places and want to take it from them, and I thought that was the mentality that we showed in the second half.”

The Broncos and Aggies have played once this season, with Utah State winning 2-0 in Logan, Utah, on Oct. 31. The winner of Saturday’s game gets the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Aggies can likely absorb a loss and still receive an at-large bid, but for the Broncos it’s win or go home.

“We’ve got a very resilient group. A group that handles hard well,” Thomas said. “They let us coach them hard, which is a rarity these days. As a result, there’s just nothing that they’ll back down from.”