Prep recap: Boise girls soccer rolls again, stays perfect. ‘We’re just getting started.’
Human nature dictates that four straight runner-up finishes at the state tournament would loom over the Boise High girls soccer team.
But the Brave remain focused on this season, not the past four. And they showed it Wednesday night, adding to their perfect record with a 4-0 win at home over Mountain View.
“We’re only halfway there,” Boise senior center back Annie Liebich said of this season. “We still have a long way to go, and we can improve a lot. I think we’re just getting started.”
Liebich kick-started the latest rout for Boise (8-0-0, 7-0-0 5A SIC). With 30 seconds left before halftime, she surprised everyone in the stadium and broke a scoreless tie by ripping a 40-yard shot into the Mountain View (5-3-2, 2-3-2) net.
Boise coach Nicole Arsenault warned her team it would find little room on the top shelf against Mountain View goalkeeper Jada Ojukwu, a mainstay on the Mavericks’ basketball team. But Liebich threaded the needle from 40 yards, slipping a shot under the bar and just past Ojuwku’s outstretched hands.
“That shot was literally as close to impossible as it looked,” Arsenault said. “... There’s maybe a 12-inch window there.”
Liebich’s second goal of the season sparked a dominant second half for Boise. The Brave poured in three goals and didn’t surrender a single shot on net after halftime to turn a tight contest into another runaway victory.
Smith, an alternate for the U.S. U-17 national team last summer, threatened the net all night. She finally made it 2-0 in the 67th minute with a 15-yard, left-footed rocket into the top right corner of the net — a world-class goal from a world-class player.
Sophomore forward Kunie Hirai then added two more goals in the final minutes, pouncing on loose balls in the 6-yard box in the 75th and 77th minutes and showcasing Boise’s bevy of attacking options.
Boise has steamrolled opponents thus far, outscoring them 44-4 through eight games. But Arsenault cautioned Boise still has the meat of its schedule remaining, including back-to-back-to-back games against Owyhee, Rocky Mountain and Timberline in the next two weeks.
And Boise knows better than anyone that regular-season results do not guarantee state tournament success.
“It’s just practice, pretty much, for when it counts,” Smith said of the regular season. “We’re getting to see a lot of the teams who we’ll play in district and will hopefully play in state, as well.
“So it’s good to kind of figure out who their key players are, what works against certain teams. So that when it comes time, we’re ready.”
Falling in the state championship game four years in a row may haunt some teams. But not Boise, Liebich said.
“It’s definitely motivation in that sense,” the three-year captain said. “We do talk about it. But I don’t think it defines us.”
WEDNESDAY’S STANDOUTS
- Kate Majors, Rocky Mountain (girls soccer): Opened the scoring and added an insurance goal the Grizzlies topped Owyhee 6-2 in a battle of the second- and third-place teams in the 5A SIC.
- Ashlyn Sandow, Timberline (girls soccer): Racked up three goals and added two assists as the Wolves cruised to a 12-0 win over Nampa.
- Kai Hatten, Timberline (boys soccer): The Wolves’ mainstay found the back of the net twice in a 10-0 win at Nampa.
This story was originally published September 14, 2022 at 10:06 PM.
