AC Boise upset another higher-division team. Why it wasn’t enough for a cup run
Athletic Club Boise more than proved it can compete with teams in a higher division. But a third win over a USL Championship side Saturday still wasn’t enough for Boise to advance in the USL Cup tournament.
Boise took down Sacramento Republic 2-0 in front of 7,247 fans at Expo Idaho. The statement win allowed Boise to finish second in its group for the midseason tournament. But only the group winners automatically advance to the quarterfinals, and Boise did not qualify for the single wildcard berth.
“We really wanted to make a big cup run,” AC Boise coach Nate Miller said. “I know that didn’t happen. We only lost one game in this group. It’s hard to get out.
“It’s two big leagues and only eight teams get through. So it’s tough.”
The tournament features 42 teams from the USL Championship and USL League One, home to Idaho’s first-year team. Boise scored a shootout win over Las Vegas in April and added a 4-3 victory over Monterey Bay in May before holding up its end of the bargain with Saturday’s result.
But League One regional rival clinched the group title and a quarterfinal berth by beating the Oakland Roots 3-1 earlier Saturday. Spokane also beat Boise 2-1 on June 6 in a result that ultimately decided the group.
Boise (9-7-4 across all competitions) still sent a message with a convincing victory over one of the USL’s premier clubs.
Sacramento (9-6-5 across all competitions) finished second in this tournament a year ago. It took MLS’ Minnesota United to a shootout in the U.S. Open Cup’s round of 32 this spring. And MLS awarded it an expansion club nine years ago before a stadium deal fell through.
None of that history mattered though when Nick Moon put Boise on the scoreboard in the seventh minute and forced club staff to scramble for a new corner flag.
Moon found Thomas Amang in the center of the field and continued his diagonal run to the box. No Sacramento defender followed, so Amang hit Moon with the give-and-go pass into the 18-yard box.
Moon then chipped a nifty shot over Sacramento goalkeeper Danny Vitiello before sprinting to the corner kick flag and delivering a flying karate kick that snapped the pole at its base.
“I didn’t think I broke it. I thought it just flew up,” Moon said with a grin. “Thomas and I, we play well together, and nobody really tracked me through the middle. It was just a pretty easy slipped ball through and a decent finish.”
Tumi Moshobane provided the final margin in the 64th minute. After starting Moon’s first-half goal with his hold-up play, he sparked another run down the left wing by laying it off to Jonathan Ricketts.
Ricketts sprung second-half sub Omar Yehya to the end line, and Yehya rewarded Moshobane for all his work by finding him in the box. Moshobane outworked Sacramento midfielder Danny Crisostomo for the ball and banged it into the far side of the net.
“Credit has to go to Omar for coming in,” Moshobane said. “He gave us that verticality with his runs, which opened up the defense for us.”
Sacramento dominated the game on the stat sheet, controlling 65% of the possession and outpassing Boise by a 2-to-1 margin. But the Idaho club turned in one of its best defensive performances of the season. And goalkeeper Jonathan Kliewer, forced into the lineup after a midweek injury to Jared Mazzola, made six saves for the clean sheet.
“We talked a lot that with the weather and everything, how we were gonna have to suffer through this game,” Miller said, noting the 102 degree kickoff temperature. “We knew both teams were gonna suffer. We knew both were gonna die on the field. We better be the ones doing it and winning.
“I saw a lot of selfless performances out there from my players, a lot of attacking players defend(ing) for the majority of a game.”
UP NEXT
Boise returns to its USL League One schedule Friday, when it hosts Maine’s Portland Hearts of Pine. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
This story was originally published July 11, 2026 at 11:34 PM.
