Borah High grad nets second career goal as Boise State fends off ‘feisty’ San Jose State
At center back, Macie Nelson is the Boise State soccer team’s defensive enforcer.
The 5-foot-9 junior was part of a defensive line in 2019 that allowed just 17 goals — tied for the fewest in program history — won a Mountain West title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
While Nelson is more accustomed to turning away potential goals, she has no qualms about scoring them when the rare moment materializes.
Nelson scored in the 76th minute following a save on a penalty kick by sophomore teammate Morgan Stone to assure Boise State a 1-0 victory over San Jose State on Sunday afternoon at Boas Soccer Complex. It was just the second goal of Nelson’s collegiate career and first since 2018.
“She does a lot for us to keep us in games, so it’s nice for her to get the opportunity to separate and win us a game,” Boise State coach Jim Thomas said. “I think we rely on her for a lot — set pieces, corners, restarts, those kinds of things — and obviously her play at the back. You want the game to reward players who give as much as she does, so it’s a pretty fun moment.”
The Broncos and Spartans shared the 2018 Mountain West regular-season championship, and the Broncos then won the title outright in 2019. With BSU tabbed the co-favorite again this season, the Spartans seemed intent on the upset, and the play on the field became heated at times as a result. The Broncos (3-1-1) and Spartans (0-4-1) combined for two yellow cards and two red cards — all in the second half.
“When you’re the champion ... people will look at you differently, and they want that title back from you,” Thomas said. “Even if they can’t get it, they’ll play differently against you. I think we’ve seen that — teams rising up to play against us. And if they have to go feisty, they’ll go feisty. Our job is gonna be to calm ourselves down from that and not get drawn into it too much and try and make sure we protect ourselves, but apply our style of play.”
Boise State controlled possession throughout the match — outshooting the Spartans by a lopsided 19-3 margin — but failed to put away some early looks that might have tamped down the intensity. The Broncos had a 7-1 shot advantage at halftime, but nothing to show for their efforts.
“Going into the half, we were really excited about the opportunities that we had,” Stone said. “We just really needed to focus on getting them into the back of the net and not just having them be opportunities.”
Boise State senior forward Aubree Chatterton had to be helped off the field in the 50th minute after going down hard on an attempted breakaway. Chatterton, a reigning All-Mountain West first-team selection with 12 career goals, returned in the 66th minute and not long after, the Broncos were awarded corner kicks in the 71st and 73rd minutes.
Chatterton was then taken down in the box in the 76th minute, resulting in the penalty-kick attempt by Stone and ultimately Nelson’s goal.
“I for sure thought Morgan was gonna get it in, but the keeper had a good save,” said Nelson, a graduate of Borah High. “I was just thankful that I was there to knock it in.”
Freshman Genevieve Crenshaw and junior Sydney Smith split goalkeeping duties for the Broncos, with Crenshaw getting the start and Smith taking over in the second half and earning the win. The victory was the 20th of Smith’s career, which moves her to No. 6 in program history.
Boise State will be at home again this Saturday against Nevada, a team the Broncos beat 3-2 on March 13 in Reno. Saturday’s match begins at noon at Boas. Attendance is limited to immediate family members at this time, but a livestream of the game is available at BroncoSports.com/mwn.
