5A, 4A repeats? Boise, Bishop Kelly win to make finals again. Owyhee stands in Brave’s way

The 5A girls soccer state tournament championship game Saturday afternoon will feature a very familiar program.

Trying to stop that team will be a school in just its third year of existence — which is not only playing in its first final, but doing so after earning its first state tourney berth.

Boise, the No. 1 seed and defending state champion, will play in its sixth straight final after a hard-fought 1-0 win over Eagle on Friday. Trying to derail the Brave on Saturday at 2 p.m. at Rocky Mountain High will be No. 3 Owyhee, which outlasted Timberline in a penalty-kick shootout.

BOISE 1, EAGLE 0

Boise (17-0-1) outlasted Eagle (12-5-1), making a Marisol Stosich goal early in the second half stand up.

The Brave looked comfortable throughout the first half, attacking primarily down the right with junior winger Kunie Hirai. She was responsible for three of Boise’s best chances in the first half, including an intelligent overlapping run and shot across goal that was well saved by Eagle goalkeeper Katherine Southard.

“She got hurt early on in the season,” Boise coach Nicole Arsenault said of Hirai. “We’ve been missing her for quite a bit, so it’s really nice to have her back and back at full form. Sometimes, after a big injury, it takes a little bit to get back into rhythm, and she’s definitely peaking at the right time this year.”

Hirai missed five games after a bad ankle sprain early in the season. The Brave have her back but are without star midfielder Sammy Smith, who was called up to play for the U-19 national team at the Pan America Games in South America.

Despite Hirai’s form, a different pair of players teamed up for the lone goal of the game three minutes into the second half. Sophomore forward Stosich won the ball off an Eagle defender in midfield before laying it off inside and making a run upfield. A through ball to the feet of fellow sophomore Grace Hatch was then flicked out wide into the path of Stosich, who fired across goal and into the top left corner.

Eagle pressed for an equalizer late in the game, but Boise’s defense kept a tight seal around the goal. The Mustangs’ best chance came when Boise goalkeeper Juliette Langlet reeled in a long-distance shot from junior Naomi Hilbig.

Boise’s history with the state title game is mixed. The Brave lost four straight between 2018 and 2021 — three to Rocky Mountain — before finally claiming the championship in 2022.

Hirai said she’s determined not to return to the state runner-up ways Saturday. Boise beat Owyhee 2-0 in September.

“I think it’s not really about who we’re playing,” Hirai said. “It’s about us and just playing our game, and making sure we’re in the right mindset, fully recovered, and ready ourselves to play whoever’s coming at us.”

OWYHEE 4, TIMBERLINE 2 (PKs)

As Brooke Sauer walked up to the penalty spot for Owyhee’s fifth kick of the shootout, she did her best to tune out the cheers of encouragement from the full bleachers.

Then it went completely silent, and it was just Sauer and her thoughts against the Timberline goalkeeper. A goal would clinch the win for Owyhee; a miss would give Timberline a chance in the shootout.

“I was a little bit nervous,” Sauer said. “I just knew I had to keep my spot and keep to where I usually go.”

Her usual spot is the bottom left corner, she said, and that’s precisely where the ball went, rustling into the corner to an explosion of cheers and screaming from her teammates.

After a testy, scoreless 100 minutes of soccer — 80 minutes of regulation and 20 minutes of overtime — it took the PKs to separate Owyhee (15-4-1) and Timberline (14-4-2).

And Sauer wasn’t the only hero. Owyhee goalkeeper Ashlyn Fuss made a big save in the shootout, and the Wolves had another shot sail over the bar.

The Storm spent most of the first half on retreat, with Timberline controlling possession and attacking down the left, often through forward Hailey Thistle.

But halftime adjustments opened the game for Owyhee, allowing the Storm to take control and create chances. Forward Alexa Zierenberg, who scored a penalty in the shootout, came closest to a regulation goal when her low shot at the near post was pulled in by Timberline goalkeeper Alexis Salisbury.

“We definitely made a few changes just in the fact of our attitude,” Owyhee coach Madison Brown said. “We completely decided that it was time to go, and you weren’t tired. Everybody kept saying on the sideline, ‘You’re not tired. It’s all mental. You’ve got to just push through.’”

Brown remained coy on Owyhee’s game plan for Boise on Saturday, but there was one tactic she was happy to reveal: “Score first.”

4A STATE TOURNAMENT

BISHOP KELLY 6, TWIN FALLS 2: The 4A girls soccer championship game also will have a familiar face.

Bishop Kelly (18-1-1) swept aside Twin Falls 6-2, scoring four goals in the first half. The Knights are trying to defend their 4A title and win their 11th championship since 2000.

Sophie Schmautz and Kenzie Hill scored two goals apiece, and Taryn Allumbaugh and Madeleine Ramsey also found the net for the Knights. BK gave both its goalkeepers minutes, with Brooke Hutchinson making four saves and Katie Janzen one.

No. 2 Bishop Kelly will take on No. 4 Sandpoint, a 2-1 winner over top-seeded Pocatello, for the state title on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at Middleton. Sandpoint has won eight state titles since 2000, most recently in 2019.