Colorado State soccer drew 1-1 in its conference matchup against Boise State in devastating fashion. 

The Rams led 1-0 for nearly 60 minutes following a 30th minute goal from forward Kaja Dionne, but a stunner final-second goal from Jayla Land of the Broncos equalized the score and forced the tie.

As the public address announcer and the Rams home crowd counted down from 10 seconds remaining expecting a CSU win, Land booted the ball from the far right side of the field, and the ball snuck past Rams goalkeeper Libby Brooker and her outstretched arm, landing in the top left corner of the net with 89:59 on the clock.

“I had a hand to it and I was really close,” Brooker said. “It’s unfortunate that they got down here and got the shot off. … Props to Boise, they really fought hard, they’re a really great team, and definitely the best we’ve faced so far.”

After a sluggish and defensive-orientated start to the game for both teams, Dionne took matters into her own hands. Blitzing down the middle of the field and past defenders, she took a shot to the bottom left corner through contact and got it past the Boise State goalkeeper.

“I checked my shoulder, and tried to look for the space, and I knew that I could get around her,” Dionne said. “I like to dribble a lot, but this time I tried something new, and I think it worked out since it ended in a goal.”

CSU was seconds away from its first win over Boise State in soccer program history, but an extraordinary shot from Land and some subpar defense from the Rams stopped that from becoming reality.

Despite the final score ending in a draw, the Rams played an overall solid game. They pushed the pace, controlled time of possession and took open, high percentage shots when given the opportunity.

“We just are always trying to get better at our style, our principles, every single day,” coach Keeley Hagen said. “And so whether you’re playing that kind of opponent that’s going to be really competitive and physical, we still want to play our game, and I was really proud of our girls and that they did that.”

Brooker had a great game overall, tallying five saves — her second most on the season — and coming up with key defensive reads throughout the match to keep her team in front for a large majority of the game.

“Working on reading the flight of long balls during practice this week was really crucial,” Brooker said. “Just having a good defense who is going to mark their players, and I’m going to make the saves I need to, we have a good method going there. Overall, the preparation helped to get ready for tonight, but we just need to be better in the last few seconds.”

Despite the disappointing finish and letting a win slip out of its fingers, CSU soccer remains unbeaten in conference play, now possessing a 4-0-1 record against Mountain West opponents, and a 8-3-2 overall record on the season.

The Rams will stay at home to prepare for a tough battle against No. 11 Utah State (12-1-2, 3-1-1 MW) 1 p.m. Sunday. 

“We want to keep going forward with our style and our tempo,” Hagen said. “Keep fighting — that’s what we’re going to ask no matter which way the games are gonna go, we’re gonna keep competing and that’s what you’re going to see.”

Reach Devin Imsirpasic at sports@collegian.com or on Twitter @DImsirpasic.

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