Prep recap: Bishop Kelly avenges rare league loss. But Vallivue still holds the reins.
For more than a decade, the Bishop Kelly High girls soccer team has been invincible in conference play.
But the graduation of 10 seniors and the introduction of a new head coach put the Knights in a vulnerable position at the start of the 2021 season. The Knights suffered their first loss to a 4A Southern Idaho Conference opponent since 2008 and just their second loss to a league opponent since 2005 with a 2-1 setback against Vallivue on Aug. 31.
Then came another rare conference loss to Middleton on Sept. 16.
With four games remaining in the regular season, Bishop Kelly finds itself third in the 4A SIC standings. The Knights have won 12 consecutive 4A District Three Tournament championships dating back to 2009, and this year’s team doesn’t intend to let that streak end.
Thursday’s 3-1 victory over first-place Vallivue shows the Knights are headed in the right direction.
‘WAKE-UP CALL’
Dawn Hill knew Bishop Kelly had a strong tradition when she took over the program this fall after moving to Idaho from California.
But she didn’t know precisely how dominant the Knights had been until that 2-1 loss on Aug. 31.
“It was a little bit of a wake-up call, that this program can lose,” Hill said. “So what do we do about that, right? I think I’ve seen a lot of fight from these guys.”
It took some time for players to bond and get comfortable with their new coach. The handful of varsity returners said they focused on team growth, rather than the outcome itself.
“Having our team just improve together, not necessarily winning. Obviously winning is a goal of ours, but with a new coach, new people our goal is to just get better together and just keep improving as we go on,” Bishop Kelly junior Lexi Chatterton said. “Even though we don’t get the results that we want all the time, we’re still growing as a team.”
While Hill said her team felt “discombobulated” at the start of the season, they’re past the growing pains and ready to continue the program’s tradition of dominance.
“I think the intensity at practice has really picked up,” Hill said. “We always have been able to create chances. I think now we’re getting much better at making our runs and finishing our chances. And I think today they just wanted to win, so the intensity was there.”
BK DISMISSES DISASTROUS START
Bishop Kelly gifted Vallivue a 1-0 lead in the 3rd minute when a BK player tried to clear a Vallivue corner kick and inadvertently headed the ball into her own goal.
Despite the self-inflicted wound, the Knights scored the equalizer when senior Grace Houser assisted sophomore Sophie Schmautz on a goal in the 19th minute. The two teams remained tied 1-1 at halftime.
Senior Izzy Reyes notched the go-ahead goal on an assist from senior Maggie Novosel in the 44th minute, and defender Margaret Smock scored unassisted in the 55th minute for the 3-1 advantage.
“The girls just kind of rallied. Today I felt like they never thought they wouldn’t win,” Hill said. “There was just a different mindset when they stepped on the field of: ‘We’re going to win this game.’ I don’t know as a coach of this team this year, if I’ve really felt that from them as I did today.
“So hopefully that feeling continues forward. I know they really want to win districts, and they knew this was a huge game to kind of prove, I think, to ourselves too that we could play with the teams that are at the top.”
DON’T FORGET VALLIVUE
Thursday’s loss was only the second for Vallivue this season in conference play, and the Falcons (8-4-0, 8-2-0) remain in first place in the 4A SIC, one point ahead of second-place Middleton (7-3-2, 7-1-2).
After scoring both goals in the Falcons’ victory over BK (6-4-1, 6-2-1) on Aug. 31, senior Lizbeth Soto was held in check Thursday. Soto leads the 4A SIC this season with 18 goals, including a five-goal game in an 8-1 win over Nampa on Tuesday, which also happened to be Soto’s birthday.
“They just went in confident,” said Vallivue coach Mariah Castillo, referring to her team’s win over Bishop Kelly in late August. “When you’re at a point where you don’t beat them, or haven’t beat them, you have nothing to lose, right? So you just go with everything you have.”
Soto was a freshman when the Falcons lost 5-1 to Bishop Kelly in the 2018 district championship game. The senior forward/midfielder has a different outcome in mind this time.
“That was a big opportunity, and ever since then I just wanted to get there again,” Soto said. “I feel like this year is our year. Last year we were good, but I feel like this year we all just want it a little more.”
Vallivue has not won a district title in girls soccer since it became an official high school sport in 2000.
“I give it all to the girls, though, honestly, and their hard work,” Castillo said. “They are just so determined this year. They really want it.”
THURSDAY’S STANDOUTS
- Shaelyn Olsen, Caldwell (girls soccer): The junior forward/midfielder netted a hat trick to lead the Cougars to a 4-0 shutout of Ridgevue in 4A SIC action.
- Abbi Roubidoux, Fruitland (girls soccer): The junior notched four goals and one assist as Fruitland routed McCall-Donnelly 7-3 to stay perfect in 3A SRV play.
- Trevor Scheuerman, Middleton (boys soccer): The junior collected four goals in the Vikings’ 11-0 shutout of winless Emmett in a 4A SIC match.
- Ramon Dietz, Ambrose (boys soccer): The freshman had a hat trick by halftime as the Archers topped Fruitland 8-1 for their fourth victory of the season.
- Annelie Wilson, Horseshoe Bend (volleyball): The Mustangs maintained control of the 1A Long Pin Conference with a 25-15, 25-13, 25-16 sweep of Tri-Valley. Wilson, a sophomore middle blocker, contributed 17 kills, 17 digs, five aces and four blocks.
- Rhys Layton, Eagle (volleyball): The junior setter kept the Mustangs in the hunt for the 5A SIC regular-season title with 30 assists and three aces in a 25-9, 25-13, 25-18 win over Capital.
This story was originally published September 24, 2021 at 12:56 AM.
