There was a gentle breeze, a bright sun and clear blue skies at Papé Field as Oregon lost 3-1 to the Boise State Broncos, ending its undefeated run. This is only the second non-conference loss of the Graeme Abel era. 

Oregon came into the game following a hard-fought 1-1 draw against the Texas Longhorns on Thursday. Boise lost to the Oregon State Beavers 2-0 in their first road game of the season on Thursday. 

Hayden Wisley scored her third goal of the season for the Broncos in the third minute of the game. Boise quickly countered after gaining possession from a poor Duck pass from the middle of the field. The ball trickled through a heap of defenders and across Leah Freeman’s line.

Boise tightened its grip on the game in the 18th minute. Five yards from the right side of the penalty box, Morgan Stone bent a gorgeous shot around the reach of a diving Leah Freeman and into the side netting, putting the Broncos up 2-0.

Kaitlyn Paculba’s speed was on display early after Zoe Hasenauer put a pass of a rope over the heads of the Boise centerbacks for the striker to run onto. One-on-one with the keeper, Paculba’s shot hit the right post and stayed outside the Bronco goal. 

A clear chance was missed in the 31st when Anjanee Respass received a pass into the box from Jordan Snyder. Respass had a lovely turn and shot from point blank range, forcing Genevieve Crenshaw to make the save.

Oregon began to show grit and pressured the Broncos toward the end of the second half. The Ducks outshot Boise 6-0 and earned six corners in the final 15 minutes of the first half.

Jordan Snyder picked Boise’s Jocelyn Stephens’s pocket right outside the Bronco box, dribbled right toward Crenshaw, then shot and rang the right post. The ball ricocheted to Lexi Romero, who sent it over the crossbar.

Four minutes later, in the 63rd, Snyder received a diagonal pass into the box from Caitlyn McCulloch and at full speed buried the ball into the upper right hand corner of the Bronco goal. With her second goal in two games. Snyder cut the Ducks’ deficit in half, 2-1. 

“She works incredibly hard,” Abel said about Snyder. “She is a threat in behind and she’s got pace. She nearly scored the second there against the outside of the post with composure about her. I’m really happy for her, because she’s doing well.”

The final goal came in the 78th minute, when an assumed handball in the Duck box caused the defense to stop play for a moment, but the whistle never came. The official played advantage and Bosie’s Kenzie MacMillan capitalized on the slight pause and scored a go-ahead goal to put the Broncos up 3-1. 

The Ducks dominated every stat line, except for goals. Abel said it’s a lesson for the team and that they cannot rely on being fighters and coming back from behind. 

“We put ourselves in a hole,” Abel said. “Many of the players are out there the first five games of their careers and they’re working their backsides off for us. Boise scored while we were chasing a goal. I’m incredibly proud of the kids for their work and keeping the petal to the metal.”

Next for the Ducks take is a home game against the Santa Clara Broncos at Papé Field Thursday at 6 p.m.