A Boise monopoly at state soccer: 6 teams advance to the finals, including every 5A
The 5A and 4A Southern Idaho Conferences continued to dominate the state soccer tournaments Friday, sending six teams into the championship round.
The 5A boys and girls state finals are all-Treasure Valley affairs. Boise (18-3-0) will battle Rocky Mountain (14-3-2) for the girls title at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Idaho Falls Soccer Complex. Rocky Mountain (15-2-1) and Timberline (14-5-2) will follow in the boys championship at 6:30 p.m.
The SIC has a shot at a boys and girls 4A title as well. Bishop Kelly (21-0-0) and Sandpoint (12-3-1) meet again for the girls title at noon Mountain time Saturday at Coeur d’Alene High. The boys championship match of Caldwell (19-0-2) vs. Hillcrest (16-1-3) will follow at 3 p.m. Mountain Time.
[Related: 5A, 4A and 3A state tournament brackets]
5A BOYS
TIMBERLINE 3, BOISE 2: Trailing 2-0 in the first half, Timberline pulled out another comeback to rally into the state finals.
Oswaldo Sosa got the Wolves on the board before halftime by burying a 23-yard free kick in the 36th minute. Mason Slaughter ran onto a through ball from Bennett Kalpakjian and scored in the 51st minute to tie the game. Then Sosa set up Marcello Iraqi in the 68th minute for the game winner, which he buried into the upper corner from 25 yards.
“All year, we’ve just been this team where if we go down, we can fight back for a win,” Timberline coach Chris Hawkins said. “It’s kind of been our motto all year to believe all the way through and fight all the way through.”
ROCKY MOUNTAIN 4, BORAH 1: The Grizzlies continued their offensive explosion, racing out to a 3-0 halftime lead after scoring five goals in the first round.
Seniors Ethan Bengtzen scored twice after a hat trick Thursday, and Kristian Quiros scored twice for the second straight game. Kyle Jones set up two of those goals, and Jake Daniels also had an assist to lead Rocky Mountain to the second state championship game appearance in program history.
“That’s pretty exciting for us, that’s for sure,” Rocky Mountain coach Bill Taylor said. “We’ve been dealing with it one game at a time, and now we’re down to the last game. This is the game we’ve wanted to be in all year, and now we’re here.”
A win over Timberline in a rematch of the district championship game — which Rocky Mountain won — would earn the Grizzlies the first state title in program history.
4A BOYS
CALDWELL 2, VALLIVUE 1: Caldwell, the defending state runner-up, fell down early but rallied with two goals from sophomore Damian Arguello.
Arguello pulled the Cougars even right before halftime, then broke through the defense as a one-man wrecking crew in the 71st minute. He deked past the goalkeeper in a one-on-one matchup and walked in the game-winning goal that gives Caldwell a chance to win its first state title since 1996.
“We’re really excited for the opportunity,” Caldwell coach Rhys Yeakley said. “The goal we had all year was to get back to this game and see if we can get over the hump. This is a special group we’ve had with all these seniors and these families.”
HILLCREST 1, MIDDLETON 0: Omar Reyes scored on a penalty kick to send the Vikings (16-4-1) into the third-place game, where they face Vallivue (15-6-2) at 2 p.m. Mountain Time Saturday at Post Falls.
5A GIRLS
BOISE 4, TIMBERLINE 0: The Braves scored twice in the opening four minutes and turned to their lockdown defense from there to return to the state championship game for the first time in four years.
Audrey Sand put Boise on the board 45 seconds into the game when she one-touched a through ball away from the goalkeeper and banged in a left-footed shot. Three minutes later, Payton Baratcart fired a 20-yard shot into the upper corner of the net, and Boise took a 3-0 lead into halftime on Rose Brighten’s goal.
Sand added a second-half goal to find the back of the net for the third time at state.
“She kind of broke out last year, and this year she has not been as impactful because the team is different,” Boise coach Chris Siegenthaler said. “She hasn’t done as much stat-wise, but she’s still good. This tournament, she’s on fire.”
Bre Norris and Paige Crook combined to make fives and stretch Boise’s shutout streak to seven games. The Braves have only allowed nine goals in 21 games this season.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN 3, LAKE CITY 2 (2OT): Sophomore Larissa Wegner scored four minutes into the second overtime to send the Grizzlies to the state finals for the second time in three years.
Wegner posted up her defender to receive a pass from Violet Rademacher, then turned and fired a shot in the lower right corner to set off a celebration.
The golden goal capped a comeback that lasted more than 90 minutes. Lake City scored two minutes into the game, forcing the Grizzlies to play catch up all afternoon. Mylee Carver tied the game at 1 in the 38th minute, and Kelsey Oyler netted an equalizer in the 72nd.
The win sets up Rocky Mountain’s third meeting with Boise. The Braves won both, 4-1 in the regular season and 2-0 in the district final.
“I think we’re playing better, and I think we’re playing with a lot more feeling,” Rocky Mountain coach Donal Kaehler said. “We made some adjustments in personnel, so they’re not going to be looking at the same team they saw in the district tournament.”
4A GIRLS
BISHOP KELLY 3, TWIN FALLS 0: Lauren Elwer put the Knights on the scoreboard just before halftime, giving Bishop Kelly all it needed to win its 63rd straight game.
Sydney Cromwell and Mia Cartwright added insurance goals in the second half for the back-to-back state champ, setting up a rematch with Sandpoint. Bishop Kelly beat Sandpoint in the finals the past two years.
“It’s going to take not only the play itself, but the mentality,” Bishop Kelly coach Meagan Lyons said. “The mentality, the competitiveness, everything, being all in. This is the pivotal point of the season right here.”