One underdog won its first soccer state title, while another powerhouse repeats as champ
Rival high schools separated by less than four miles hoisted 5A state soccer championships late Saturday night at Rocky Mountain High.
The Eagle boys soccer team rallied to hang its first state championship banner in program history with a 2-1, double-overtime victory over Skyview. Then in the nightcap, the Rocky Mountain girls team repeated as 5A champions with a 4-3 shootout win over Boise after 100 scoreless minutes.
EAGLE BOYS SOCCER WINS FIRST STATE TITLE
The Mustangs entered the season with few, if any, expectations outside of Eagle.
They hadn’t posted a winning record in six years. They hadn’t reached the state tournament in eight years. And they finished seventh out of 10 teams in a Southern Idaho Conference preseason coaches’ poll.
But none of that mattered Saturday as Eagle (12-7-2) posed for photos with its first state championship trophy.
“We all knew we were good players, so we were kind of disappointed that the coaches had that view,” Eagle senior midfielder Truman Hoggan said of the preseason rankings. “But we proved them wrong.”
The Mustangs struggled out of the gate, starting the season 4-6-2 overall and 1-4-2 in league play. But they closed the year winning eight of their last nine games, including Saturday’s state championship.
Skyview (9-8-3) took a 1-0 lead when Jonny Camacho converted a penalty kick in the 51st minute. And the Hawks nearly killed the rest of the second-half clock to send Eagle home with a second-place trophy.
But the Mustangs pulled goalkeeper Drew Morris out of the net and inserted him at the top of the formation with 12 minutes left, changing the complexion of the game as Eagle sent waves forward. Morris broke through in the 74th minute when he sprung Hoggan for a run between Skyview’s center backs, and Hoggan banged home the equalizer.
Morris returned to the net in the second overtime, but the Mustangs kept up the offensive pressure. It paid off in the 92nd minute, when Ben Denton curled a 20-yard, left-footed shot inside the far right post, allowing the Mustangs to storm the field.
“It was kind of bouncing around in there, and it just came out,” Denton said. “I took a touch, and I heard, I don’t know who it was. But someone said rip it.
“... I don’t know what the hell happened. I just shot it. And I saw it go in the right bottom corner. The rest is history.”
Denton also scored a game-winning goal in the semifinals Friday, sending Eagle to the finals for the first time in 18 years.
“He’s come up in big moments for us all year, and I’m just proud of him,” Eagle coach Kevin Mayhugh said. “He’s a fantastic player. They just stepped up and they played for the moment.”
Mayhugh, a former assistant who took over the Mustangs this fall, understands why Eagle didn’t start the season with a ton of respect. But after Saturday’s state title, he hopes the Mustangs have earned it.
“It shows that, Eagle High School, we can play with just about anybody,” Mayhugh said.
Forfeit in third-place game: Madison (12-9-0) brought home the third-place trophy after Lake City forfeited the game due to an “athletic code violation,” the Coeur d’Alene Press reported.
Coeur d’Alene 1, Borah 1: Brandon Donat scored an equalizer for Borah (11-5-4) in the 44th minute, but Coeur d’Alene (12-3-1) prevailed 6-5 on penalty kicks for the consolation title.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN GIRLS SOCCER REPEATS AS STATE CHAMPS
The Grizzlies heard all the whispers that they were lucky to win last year’s state championship. But they answered those doubts with another state title Saturday.
The script played out nearly the same. Eighty minutes of regulation couldn’t break a tie between Boise and Rocky Mountain. Nor could two 10-minute overtime periods. Nor could five shooters in penalty kicks.
Rocky Mountain (17-1-2) needed sudden-death penalty kicks again before finally clinching its second consecutive title and erasing any doubt over its reign of Idaho.
“Everyone was like, ‘Oh, it’s a fluke,” Rocky Mountain junior goalkeeper Kasey Wardle said of last year’s state title, which the Grizzlies won after trailing 3-0. “There’s been so much trash talk, and in all these papers and stuff it was favoring Boise, Boise, Boise.
“We really made our mark. People can’t overlook us when we win twice in a row.”
Wardle stopped the sixth and deciding spot kick for last year’s state title. The Grizzlies needed her to save their title hopes again Saturday, and the Utah commit delivered.
Boise’s Madeline Colborn stepped up to the spot as the fifth and final shooter with a chance to clinch the Brave (17-3-2) a state title. But Wardle dove to her left and stonewalled Colborn, keeping the shootout tied and giving the Grizzlies life.
Rocky Mountain sent sophomore Madison Murphy up as its next shooter. She took her first varsity penalty kick in a district semifinal shootout win over Centennial last week. But after watching her sink shot after shot in practice, Rocky Mountain coach Donal Kaehler didn’t hesitate to call her name.
“(Wardle) and Kelsey (Jargstorf), our two keepers, they know where it’s going to go, but (she) always puts it in,” Kaehler said. “So, duh. You don’t have to be a genius to figure this is what you want.”
Murphy fired a shot to the right. Boise goalkeeper Bre Norris guessed correctly, but Murphy lifted it just over Norris’ outstretched hands for a 4-3 lead, which stood as the final Boise shooter hit the right post.
Rocky Mountain returned nine starters from last year’s state championship. And with a young roster, 10 more starters will return next year for a shot at a three-peat, a feat no 5A boys or girls team has accomplished since the state activities association started sponsoring the state tournament in 2000.
Timberline 2, Mountain View 1: London Carter headed in the game-wining goal on a 40-yard cross from Katelyn Alcorn in the second half to lift the Wolves to the third-place trophy. Ava Ranson also scored for Timberline (14-3-3).
Coeur d’Alene 0, Eagle 0: After a scoreless regulation and two overtime periods, Coeur d’Alene (7-7-5) topped Eagle 7-6 on penalty kicks to win the consolation title. Eagle closes the year 10-7-2.
This story was originally published October 27, 2019 at 1:43 AM.
