BOISE – Morgan Stone has had quite the journey – one that has taken the Boise State senior midfielder from the other side of the world to the screens of hundreds of thousands of people.
The next stop is her last go-around with the Broncos (1-0-1), who host No. 11 BYU at 7 p.m. on Saturday in one of the biggest home games in program history.
“It’s got one more stage,” Boise State head soccer coach Jim Thomas said of Stone’s story. “We gotta get another championship, another ring on that girl’s finger.”
It began more than 7,600 miles west. While born in Australia, she grew up in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. Her dad worked as a petroleum geologist for Saudi Aramco, which is one of the largest oil companies in the world. Stone lived inside a compound reminiscent of a military base for the families of its workers. She spent the first 13 years of her life there.
“The biggest thing that I loved was that it was so diverse,” Stone said. “Everybody was from everywhere around the world because they just brought in work from every different country, continent. Race and those problems were not happening because everybody was equal. But then once you left the compound, it was very third world. So that taught me a lot about just culture and how people live. Growing up in an Islamic country, too, as a female is very difficult. I saw my mom have no rights, as well. My mom couldn’t even drive. So I think it taught me a lot about how I view the world.”
But in the midst of all that, Stone found the game of soccer.
She started playing at 4 when her mother Ann Stroh lied about her age on the registration form. The minimum age to participate was 5.
“It didn’t hurt anybody,” said Stroh with a laugh. “It was kind of like a small soccer club. So it was no big deal.”
Her play was, though.
Stone recalls her dad having to sit her down one time after scoring 10 goals in a game at a pretty young age.
“He was like, ‘Sometimes you have to play defense and sometimes you have to go easy on them at this level,’” said Stone with a laugh. “He always brings that up. He had to reel me back in a lot because I was always so full of energy and always wanting to go out there and be aggressive.”
Morgan Stone against the University of California Riverside in 2022. (Photo by Boise State Athletics)
However, there was no stopping her upon coming to the United States right before high school. Stone moved to Boulder, Colorado without her father Bill. He stayed in Saudi Arabia for two more years before deciding to retire. But she still quickly turned herself into a highly-touted recruit with FC Boulder.
“During any sort of hardship, (coach Jim Thomas) refers to soccer as my sanctuary,” Stone said. “I’m one of the players that’s always out there getting extra work in and getting extra touches even when my head’s a little bit jumbled. That’s why I want to keep playing, because I need that in my life.”
She helped FC Boulder to PDT and Desert Premier League Championships, along with two state cup finals appearances. It all drew the attention of the likes of the University of Florida, Illinois and of course, Boise State.
“She had an aura about her even as a young 16-year-old kid. It exudes someone that leads people and it just draws you to her,” Thomas said. “The clarity in who she is as a person, is easy for everybody to get the first time you meet her.”
He and the Broncos made an instant impression on her, as well. Thomas is from England where her parents lived for a decade.
“Once I got on campus, everybody was just so welcoming. It wasn’t the rudimentary, get this recruit through a visit. Everybody wanted to make sure my questions were answered,” Stone said. “I remember my dad was on my visit and at one point he nodded at me. And I knew then that this is the one.”
A decision validated just a few months later.
Stone graduated early to do spring training with the team. During which time, she approached Thomas about switching over to right back. It was a position that Stone had never played before, but one the Broncos were in desperate need of. She ended up getting it and became the only freshman to start in all 23 games for the 2019 season.
She helped Boise State win its first league championship in a decade by making the Mountain West All-Tournament Team. The Broncos also made the NCAA Tournament for just the second time in school history. Stone assisted in Boise State’s lone goal in the 5-1 loss to BYU.
She is the only player remaining from that team and has never missed a single start.
“Sometimes in other sports, when you were the starter last year, it’s grandfathered over that you are the starter the following year. That’s just not how we do it,” Thomas said. “So it’s even more impressive when you think about the fact that she’s had to earn it at every single turn of that road. And she’s done it in so many different positions. It’s a really good viewing lens into all of the different talents that she has. All of the different things that she’s capable of because there are very, very few players that could have done that.”
And even less who can go pro.
She is on the cusp of doing that, too. Stone has spent the last two summers playing pre-professional soccer with the Minnesota Aurora FC of the USL W League.
Stone, who has had the goal of playing professionally since she was 16, was looking for a way to get her foot in the door while still at Boise State. Thomas and associate head coach Max Weber each knew Aurora FC coach Nicole Lukic, who was in search of a midfielder for the then brand-new expansion team. So they connected the two. Lukic loved what she saw on film and immediately offered her the spot.
Stone made an instant impact there, as well.
Playing regularly in front of 5,000 plus fans, she was the league’s player of the week and finished second on the team in goals with five for that inaugural season. Those include scoring the first-ever penalty kick in franchise history, and having another goal appear on national television.
Her 23-yard shot from across her body that perfectly sailed into the opposite, high left corner of the net, came in at No. 9 on the June 27, 2022 edition of ESPN’S SportsCenter Top-10. Stone saw it later that night while celebrating with her teammates at a Buffalo Wild Wings and her phone instantly started blowing up.
“I watched it and I’m like, ‘Oh my god, that’s me. I’m on SportsCenter,’” Stone said. “It was really humbling. To be recognized in that way, it was just really special.”
Aurora FC went undefeated before losing in the championship of the 65-team league that season. Stone recorded two goals and two assists this summer for Aurora FC, who once again went unbeaten, but lost in the quarterfinal round.
“It really just kind of solidified everything for me that this is what I want to be doing,” Stone said. “I’ve been doing this since I was 4 years old. That’s a long time. It does make it worth it. This is what I want to be doing and this is what I want to pursue. I don’t want to have a plan B. I want this to be my plan A and go for it with everything I have.”
Yet, Stone is putting that lifelong dream on hold for one final year with the Broncos.
Morgan Stone against Utah Valley University in 2022 home opener. (Photo by Boise State Athletics)
Boise State is coming off a season where it went 8-5-7 and failed to qualify for the MW Tournament for the first time since 2015, despite scoring 20 goals through its nine non-conference games – the most since Thomas’ arrival in 2013. But the Broncos only netted six goals during conference play. They were shut out seven times.
But at the same time, Boise State had the best defense in the league. It gave up just five goals (0.45 goals per match) – matching an all-time MW record.
The coronavirus shortened-season of 2020 aside, it was the fewest number of wins for the Broncos in six seasons.
“Looking back on last year, we were not a poor team,” Thomas said. “We were three games above .500. That’s the sixth straight year we’ve been above .500. So there’s so many things that had us very, very close to being very, very good.”
So with 24 players back, including four MW all-conference returners, Boise State will look to do just that this season. The Broncos tied North Dakota State 1-1 in their season opener on the road before winning 3-2 at North Dakota a few days later. Saturday’s matchup with BYU is the home opener.
“I have some unfinished business,” Stone said. “We did not have the season that we wanted to have last year. My freshman year, we won a championship, and I’m the only person on the team that knows what that feels like. So I feel like it’s really important for me to be here to lead them into that championship because I know what it takes to get there. I watched it. I was a part of it.
“I just think it can’t hurt being coached by Jim for an extra year. He’s the best coach I’ve ever had. We have a really good communication system. So I think that an extra year under him just develops and prepares me even further for the pros.”
And for whatever may be next.
“It is a remarkable journey,” Stroh said. “We’ve always been supportive of her, but it’s very much driven by Morgan. She is a force to be reckoned with.”
