AC Boise had the reigning champs on the ropes. Then it let them ‘off the hook’
An early goal and a flurry of last-minute chances couldn’t deliver Athletic Club Boise a result Thursday.
The first-year pro soccer club dropped a 2-1 home game to One Knoxville, watching the Tennessee side and reigning league champ rally to steal all three points in front of 7,223 fans at Expo Idaho.
AC Boise (6-6-3) controlled much of the game, finishing with 60% of possession and a 15-7 edge in shots. But Boise only managed to put three of those 15 shots on net to suffer its third home loss of the season.
“I don’t think the second half was even a game,” Boise coach Nate Miller. “I think they had one chance in the second half, and we conceded it. I think they had one chance in the first half, and we conceded it.”
“I think we’ve been a bit soft like that this season. Some of that stuff has to change. It just has to change.”
Nick Moon put Boise on the scoresheet in the 22nd minute, threading a wormburner through the box and into the Knoxville (9-2-3) net. But the Idaho side never found the back of the net again while Knoxville proved lethally efficient with its limited opportunities.
Knoxville goalkeeper Johan Garibay stole a Boise goal in the 37th minute, making a full-extension, diving save of a rocket from Thomas Amang. Knoxville took advantage of that second life seven minutes later when Teddy Baker fired a diagonal cross to Mikkel Gøling in the box.
Gøling and Boise goalkeeper Jonathan Kliewer collided in midair for the contested ball. Their ricochet fell right to Knoxville’s McRobb, who clinically tapped the ball out of the air and into the empty net.
“We should have won the game,” Boise defender Jake Dengler said. “But we just didn’t take our chances, and they finished theirs. That’s on us for not not stepping on their throats at all.
“Getting to the first half 1-0 would have been a different game and we could have seen that out. But it was a mistake and a lack of communication there. We just have to fix that. We have to sharpen that.”
Boise continued to tilt the field toward the Knoxville net in the second half but came up with nothing to show for it. Garibay’s one-handed save denied Jonathan Ricketts a sure goal in the 64th minute, and Moon pulled a 30-yard opportunity off a poor corner kick clearance just wide left.
A quick three-man game put Knoxville ahead for good in the 81st minute. Real Gill found a posted-up Babacar Diene inside the penalty area. But instead of trying to make the turn, Diene laid the ball off for Baker, who buried a one-timer into the left side of the net.
That deficit set off a litany of Boise chances in the final 10 minutes. But continuing the night’s theme, none found the back of the net. None were more painful than Tumi Moshobane’s golden-plated opportunity for an equalizer.
Denys Kostyshyn sprung Moshobane for a wide-open breakaway in the 83rd minute. Facing no one but the goalkeeper, Moshobane sailed an uncontested shot from 18 yards over the top of the net.
“This is the defending champion, and we controlled (the game),” Miller said. “They finished not-easy chances, and we didn’t finish easy chances. This is football. It’s not the first time that’s happened, and it’s not the last. But we need to start getting there fast, man.
“I’m not too happy with some of the execution because we had a whole week to really get sharp. And I think we let our opponent off the hook tonight.”
UP NEXT
After a 12-day break, Boise gets little time to lick its wound. AC Boise hits the road to New York on Sunday to face Westchester (4-8-2).
Boise throttled Westchester 4-0 at Expo Idaho on April 18.
