Les Bois sends five teams to Far West Regional soccer championships

Ability and ambition are qualities Les Bois Sports Association coach and technical director Michael Mollay values and they are key reason why the 17-year-old soccer club has five girls teams playing in the Far West Regional Championships.

The tournament begins Monday in Lancaster, Calif., with competition in four-team pods and concludes Sunday with championship matches. The top two teams in each pod advance to the knockout rounds, which begin Friday. Champions advance to the national tournament in Lancaster, Mass., on July 21-26.

"Talent obviously comes first and foremost, but you've got to have ability and ambition," Mollay said. "These kids are highly competitive with big goals to play on the college stage and they enjoy winning. At the end of the day, coaches can only do so much. Players have to want it and they have to do it on the field."

Les Bois girls teams won the U14, U15, U16, U17 and U18 age groups last month at the State Cup to earn berths in the Far West Regionals. The Boise Nationals (U13 girls, U13 and U14 boys), Idaho Rush (U15 and U16 boys) and Boise Capitals (U17 and U18 boys) secured the state's other seven berths at the State Cup.

"It's been a very special year and we don't take it for granted," said Mollay, who coaches three of Les Bois' five teams - U14, U17 and U18 girls. "It comes down to a good coaching staff, great families who support these players and kids with ability and ambition."

Leading the way for Les Bois is Mollay's U17 team. In the U16 division last season, they advanced to the Far West Regional semifinals, claimed a US Club Soccer regional title and advanced to the US Club Soccer national championship game.

Sofia Huerta was a key member of that team, which will be without one of its star players in California. Miah Mollay, the coach's daughter and Idaho's 2008 Gatorade player of the year with Boise High, suffered a season-ending knee injury at a tournament last month.

"It sucks we lost her, but it almost motivates us even more because people think we're not as good without her," said Huerta, a two-time 5A state champion 300-meter hurdler for Centennial. "Last year, we lost some big games and we know it hurts. We also know how it feels to win, so that's what we're aiming for."

Amanda Soderlund won a 5A state title with Timberline last fall after enjoying last summer's success with Les Bois.

"I think we learned last year that we can be better," Soderlund said. "People underestimate Idaho a lot and after experiencing some success last year, we know we can have success against big teams."

Like Huerta, Soderlund also is confident the team can succeed without one of the state's top players.

"Miah was obviously a big part of our team, but we have a strong 11 on the field all of the time," she said. "We have a lot of depth. We have other people who can step right in and play very well. This is the best team I have ever play on."

The U17 girls won't have an easy road to the knockout stages at regionals. In pool play, they are set to face southern California champion Real So Cal on Monday, New Mexico wild card Elite FC on Tuesday and Oregon champion Tualatin Hills United on Thursday. Real So Cal was regional runner-up in the U16 division last season and Les Bois beat Tualatin Hills 1-0 in the U16 quarterfinals last summer.

"We just have to make sure we're fit and ready to play in that first game," Mollay said. "If you can get a result out of first game, that gives you a good chance to advance out of your bracket."