Boise State’s ‘passive’ performance still nets win in Mountain West season opener
Jim Thomas used the words “passive” and “poor” to describe the play of his Boise State women’s soccer team in its Mountain West season opener.
And Thomas wasn’t talking about a loss.
Despite a sub-standard performance, the Broncos defeated Nevada 2-1 on Friday at the Boas Soccer Complex to push their home winning streak to seven games. They are now one win shy of matching the longest home winning streak in program history.
Now is not the time for complacency.
“I thought that was poor, to be frank. I think Nevada is vastly improved, and if we do that too often, we’re going to make this run for a championship really, really hard on ourselves,” Thomas said. “I think what we did today was utilize talent to get a couple of goals and get through a game where (in the) overall flow of the game we weren’t that great.”
Junior midfielder McKenna Kynett scored both of Boise State’s goals on a pair of assists from junior forward Kristina Serres.
Kynett’s first goal came on a header in the 21st minute, and she added the game-winner in the 55th minute.
“Of course Kristina, I couldn’t do it without her great feeds,” Kynett said. “I feel like we’ve just been together this whole year.”
Serres leads the Mountain West this season with six assists, while Kynett has teamed up with junior forward Raimee Sherle to form the highest-scoring duo in the conference. Sherle has nine goals this season for 18 points, and Kynett has six goals and two assists for 14 points.
“I think that we put in so much work off the field. It is insane how many shots we take, how many extra practices we do,” Kynett said. “I am glad it’s finally paying off. It’s just a testament to all the things we did during summer.”
After losing in the Mountain West Tournament semifinals last season, the Broncos (7-2-0, 1-0-0 MW) have aspirations of winning a championship in 2018.
That’s why Thomas was so harsh on his team after Friday’s win. He knows it wasn’t the players’ strongest effort.
“There was a lack of punch today. There was a lack of incisiveness today that I think we’re renowned for,” Thomas said. “We’re going to need to make sure that that identity stays true across the season. We’ll face lots of different foes, but we have to remain true to ourselves, and I think we got a little bit away from that today.
“We were a little bit too passive. ... I think it’s more just getting back to who we are that’s most important.”
Boise State continues Mountain West play at UNLV at 2 p.m. MT on Sunday.
This story was originally published September 21, 2018 at 7:36 PM.