Brief defensive lapses result in a shock second-straight home loss for AC Boise
AC Boise suffered a surprise second-straight home loss on Wednesday night after falling 2-0 to Sarasota Paradise at the Stadium at Expo Idaho.
Boise defeated Sarasota 1-0 on the road in the club’s inaugural game on March 7, while Sarasota came into Wednesday’s game on a six-game losing streak.
Despite that, a game-defining five minutes saw Sarasota score in the 55th and 60th minutes to take all three points back to Florida.
“We’re struggling a little bit, and that’s part of a long season, and you need to manage your way through these times,” AC Boise head coach Nate Miller said after the game. “I think my players are giving everything, though, as far as effort is concerned, as far as trying to do all the right things. So I have no problem with their attitude.”
Having suffered a 3-1 loss to Fort Wayne over the weekend, AC Boise entered Wednesday’s game in 7th place in USL League One, while Sarasota sat in 16th out of 17 teams.
Following an opening 15 minutes of play that saw Sarasota force an end-to-end game, AC Boise eventually took control and dominated for most of the first half. Forward Thomas Amang sent a header narrowly wide in the 16th minute, while a half-volley from the edge of the box from center back Jake Crull went just over the bar shortly after. Forward Denys Kostyshyn also had a dangerous curling shot tipped just wide by Sarasota goalkeeper Alex Sutton.
However, the moment of the half came off a corner in the 36th minute.
An inswinging corner from Boise ricocheted off a Sarasota defender and past Sutton, but the loose ball was cleared off the line by a Paradise defender. The ball appeared to cross the goal line upon first glance, drawing roars from the nearby River Guard supporters group mere feet away, but the watching linesman ruled the ball wasn’t completely over the line and called for play to continue.
Spirits remained high amongst the home crowd as the whistle blew for the second half, considering Sarasota had scored just nine goals in 11 league games before Wednesday night.
But the home side’s chanting and cheering were quickly muted in the 50th minute when Sarasota midfielder Chandler O’Dwyer curled a shot from 20 yards out into the top right corner of Boise’s net. O’Dwyer received a short pass unmarked on the edge of the box before taking a quick touch and sending a shot toward the far post.
“We’re a team that possesses a lot of the ball, and so when we do have to defend, we have to communicate at a high level, and we have to make sure that we block shots,” Crull said.
The visitors doubled the lead five minutes later when a low cross from Sarasota was redirected into the bottom corner by Boise defender Hayden Sargis, whose attempted sliding block quickly went wrong.
While unfortunate, the frantic opening minutes of the second half highlighted a continuing issue for Miller.
“The second one, I would like my number six (defensive midfielder) to track that run, that shouldn’t be Hayden accepting that runner,” Miller said. “If Jonathan Ricketts has to go out to the wing, our six has to track that run.”
He went on to say that when the opposition’s center midfielders push up the field, he needs his defensive midfielders to remain goal-side rather than trailing the attacking player.
Boise has also gone the last three games without center-back leader Jake Dengler, who’s missed those games with an injury — in that span, Boise has conceded eight goals.
“How we play, it takes a lot of coordination, takes a lot of communication, a lot of different movement,” Miller said. “And so when you switch the main guy in the middle of that, the level of communication is different, and we’ve been trying to see who can fill that role.
Miller added that AC Boise is close to signing a player who will help on defense, but that some paperwork still needs to be completed, and wouldn’t provide any more information.
Having taken the 2-0 lead, Sarasota shut up shop for the rest of the game and limited Boise to minimal chances for the final 30 minutes. Substitute forward Joe Hanson sent a header just wide in the 75th minute, while a deflected shot from midfielder Tumi Moshobane was also cleared off the line shortly after.
“The hardest thing to do in football is to play against a low block when you’re behind,” Miller said. “I think some of our attacking issues, it’s not volume, we’re creating a lot, it’s more just putting ourselves in a bad position early in games.”
AC Boise will play its seventh and final game of May on Saturday as it travels to Virginia to take on the Richmond Kickers. Kickoff is set for 5 p.m. Mountain Time.
This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 10:45 PM.
