Skyview, Eagle boys soccer teams will have shot at history in 5A state title match
In the heat of battle, it often takes a single act to motivate the troops. In Friday’s 5A boys soccer state tournament semifinal game at Eagle High, all it took was a yellow card.
Lake City (9-4-3) was the aggressor in the opening 15 minutes, but after arguing a no call following a collision in the goalies’ box, Skyview keeper Javier Bustamante was issued a yellow card. Moments later, the Hawks scored their first goal of the game and the flood gates opened.
Skyview (9-7-3) tacked on four second-half goals and won, 5-0, to clinch its first 5A state championship game appearance in program history. The Hawks will face Eagle (11-7-2) in the finals at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday at Rocky Mountain High.
“The thing is we play as a team and then adjust to score,” Skyview junior forward Jon Isasi said. “If I score a goal, it’s not just my goal. It’s the whole team’s goal.”
The Hawks won a 4A state title in 2014, but this season marked their first appearance in the 5A state tournament. Head coach Manuel Reynoso said Friday’s win just came down to playing Skyview’s brand of soccer.
“When we started the game, we tried to play their style of soccer and we cannot play physical,” Reynoso said. “We play more of a possession game, and it starts all the way in the back. We got away from that in the first half, but the second half was really good because my players got the message about why we need to play our game.”
Ty Bassett scored late in the first half to send Skyview into halftime with a 1-0 lead. But before the intermission, words exchanged between assistant coaches on both benches resulted in a Skyview assistant getting ejected from the game.
Physical play continued into the second half as three more yellow cards were issued for on-field contact. No more red cards were handed out, though, and Skyview’s offense took over in the second half.
Less than seven minutes into the second half, Bassett scored his second goal of the day with a header on a pass from Jonny Camacho. Isasi took over from there and scored three straight to end the game. His first and final goals were a result of beautiful passes from Travis Flake, both of which Isasi finished with headers.
“I just focused on the game and played how I know how to play,” Isasi said. “I’m excited to help my team, and I think we have a great chance to win (on Saturday).”
EAGLE 1, MADISON 0
Madison had all kinds of clean looks at Eagle’s goal in the first half of Friday’s second 5A state semifinal at Eagle High, but it was the Mustangs (11-7-2) who went into halftime with a one-goal lead and hung on to punch their ticket to Saturday’s state championship game.
Madison (11-9-0) had three chances to tie the game in the final 10 minutes, including a header that flew just wide left with 16 seconds left on the clock.
Eagle’s only goal was set up by a free kick from Christian Rainey, which Ben Denton got a foot on in mid air with 7 minutes left in the first half. The Mustangs have never won a state championship in boys soccer.
4A BOYS SOCCER
CALDWELL 3, MOSCOW 0: Caldwell shut out Moscow (8-5-2) on Friday at Brothers Park to secure a spot in the 4A state championship game. The defending state champion Cougars travel to Middleton High for the title game at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday against Jerome (16-3-1). Caldwell (18-2-1) got goals out of Cristian Yeakley, Damian Arguello and Yahir Esquibal, who also added an assist. Caldwell goalie Rylan Tutor finished with nine saves.
3A BOYS SOCCER
WEISER 1, SUGAR-SALEM 1 (Weiser 5-4 PKs): Weiser’s Chris Gonzales and Sugar-Salem’s Scott Galbraith scored in regulation of Friday’s 3A state semifinal at Vallivue High, and after two scoreless overtime periods, the Wolverines went on to pull out a 5-4 win in penalty kicks. Weiser (15-1-4) will travel to Middleton High for the 3A state championship game at 10 a.m. on Saturday against Sun Valley (18-1-2), which also went to penalty kicks on Friday to beat American Falls, 5-4. The Wolverines are going for their third state title in the past five seasons.
This story was originally published October 25, 2019 at 7:22 PM.
