Girls state soccer: Boise topples Rocky Mountain in PKs, avenging three title losses
Treasure Valley girls soccer teams continued to dominate at the state tournaments Friday, sending a team in each classification into the championship round.
Saturday’s title matches are:
- 5A: Boise (16-3-1) vs. Lake City (16-2-0), 2 p.m. at Rocky Mountain
- 4A: Vallivue (15-5-1) vs. Twin Falls (19-1-0), 4:30 p.m. at Middleton
- 3A: Fruitland (18-0-1) vs. Sun Valley (17-4-0), 10 a.m. at Middleton
While the Treasure Valley typically brings home a host of hardware each year, the Boise area hasn’t swept all three state championships since 2011.
5A GIRLS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT
Boise topples Rocky Mountain: The Brave fell to Rocky Mountain in the state finals each of the past three years. But Boise got a bit of revenge in Friday’s semifinal, dethroning the perennial power 5-3 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw on the Grizzlies’ home field.
Boise senior forward Logan Smith had to watch Rocky celebrate all those championships the past three years, including shootout wins in 2018 and 2019. But through full-body shivers after a postgame Gatorade bath, the Stanford commit said Friday’s outcome helped ease some of those painful memories.
“The past four years has just finally added up,” Smith said. “Our team has put a ton of pressure on ourselves every year for this game and this moment. For it to finally go our way, and to be on the right side of these PKs, is really amazing.”
Smith put Boise on the board first in the 35th minute. Avery Howell’s 30-yard shot led to a rebound, and Smith pounced on the loose ball inside the 6-yard box for a 1-0 lead.
Rocky Mountain (19-2-0) drew even in the 53rd minute when Kaitlyn Slocum fired a 25-yard rocket into the net, getting it off just as she collided with Boise defender Maizy Klulksdal and both tumbled to the turf.
Then true to the rivalry between two of the state’s top programs, nothing could separate the Brave and Grizzlies for the next 47 minutes, leading to the decisive shootout after overtime.
Boise’s Madeline Colborn, Sammy Smith, Evie Bretz, Logan Smith and Mia Barron all converted their spot kicks as the Brave went 5-for-5, exorcising their PK demons of previous years and finally beating Rocky Mountain at the state tournament.
“We’ve just always built (this game) up in our heads,” Logan Smith said. “They’re a really great team, and obviously a dynasty to take down. Making it through this hurdle and through the semis was a huge deal for us.”
Rocky Mountain drops into the third-place game, where it hosts top-seeded Highland (17-1-0) for a shot at its eighth straight state tournament trophy.
Lake City 1, Highland 0: Junior forward Elliotte Kortus drew blood in the fourth minute, and the Timberwolves (16-2-0) held on for the next 76 minutes to spoil a perfect season for Highland in the semifinals.
Timberline 2, Thunder Ridge 0: Isabella Widmore and Hayden Wilsey scored to lead the Wolves to a win in the consolation bracket. Timberline (14-5-1) will face Centennial (12-8-1) for the consolation title at 10 a.m. Saturday at Rocky Mountain.
Centennial tops Eagle in PKs: Patriots goalkeeper Kaiya Pardue turned away two shots in a shootout, leading the Patriots to a 4-2 win in penalty kicks after a 0-0 draw.
4A GIRLS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT
Vallivue 4, Skyline 2: The Falcons (15-5-1) upset previously undefeated Skyline to punch their ticket to the first state championship game in program history.
Leading scorer Lizbeth Soto found the back of the net twice at Caldwell’s Brothers Park, Gracie Soto also scored, and Alondra Osuna converted a penalty kick as Vallivue extended its best season since Idaho began sponsoring an official state tournament in 2000.
Vallivue’s previous best finish was a third-place trophy in 2017.
Jaqueline Trejo had both goals for Skyline (14-1-2).
Twin Falls 1, Bishop Kelly 0, OT: Jaycee Bell’s golden goal in overtime dashed Bishop Kelly’s state title dreams.
The Knights (15-5-1) will face Skyline for the third-place trophy at 1 p.m. Saturday at Brothers Park.
Pocatello 4, Caldwell 0: The Cougars’ first trip to state since 2003 ended with a two-out-out performance. Raquelle Trogden netted a hat trick for Pocatello (11-5-4), which faces Moscow in the consolation final at 10 a.m. Saturday.
3A GIRLS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT
Fruitland 7, Sugar-Salem 1: Junior Abbi Roubidoux continued her torrid pace, netting four goals for the second straight day to lead the Grizzlies to the state finals for the first time since 2009.
Sun Valley topped Teton 2-1 in overtime in the other 3A semifinal.
This story was originally published October 22, 2021 at 6:55 PM.
