It only takes one moment: Lake City shocks Boise in 5A girls soccer state title game
A day removed from going to penalty kicks in a win over defending state champion Rocky Mountain, the Boise High girls soccer team was flush with momentum heading into the 5A state title game on Saturday.
With one player coming off a training session with the U-17 U.S. National Team and another heading to the Pac-12, Boise had all the star power, too. But the Brave didn’t leave Rocky Mountain with the championship trophy.
Washington State commit Elliotte Kortus scored the only goal of the game with 3:29 left in regulation to lead Lake City to its first state championship since 2016 with a 1-0 victory.
It also sent Boise (16-4-1) home with the second-place trophy for the fourth straight year.
“We knew we could play, and we knew we’d been tested a couple times this season,” Lake City coach Matt Ruchti said. “We said we’re going to get into games where we’re not going to be able to play our style all the time and we’re going to have to grind it out, and today was that.”
Kortus’ goal was one of just five shots taken by Lake City (17-2-0) on Saturday, but it only takes one moment to change a soccer game, she said.
“You don’t need 100 shots,” Kortus said. “You just need one, and you just need to finish the one. And that’s all that matters.”
After a scoreless first half and a second half that included several near misses by Boise, the game seemed destined for overtime. But Ruchti got Kortus’ attention from the sideline with about five minutes left in regulation and let her know the outcome was in her hands.
“I told her you’ve got five minutes to make one moment happen, and she did,” Ruchti said. “She’s a college-bound player and she can punish anybody. It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter if you’re Boise or Rocky (Mountain) or Highland or whatever, she will find a moment to punish you, and she did.”
Kortus found her moment a little more than a minute later. She got behind the Boise defense and charged hard toward the right side of the goal before burying her game-winning shot in the left corner. As if her decisive run wasn’t impressive enough, the righty took the shot with her left foot.
Kortus admitted she closed her eyes and prayed the shot went in as she fell to the ground after taking it. When the realization of what she’d just done set in, she threw both arms toward the sky and disappeared beneath a mob of celebrating teammates. That’s a moment that will rank pretty high in her career for some time to come.
“Definitely No. 1,” she said. “I’ve never scored anything like that or with that much importance.”
Boise had a couple of chances to tie the score late, but a shot from Sammy Smith flew wide left with 1:15 left in regulation and teammate Kunie Hirai couldn’t corral a pass and get a shot off in the final moments. Smith missed the district tournament last week while training with the U-17 U.S. National Team.
The Brave controlled the action on Saturday and out shot Lake City, 13-5. But Timberwolves goalie Hailey Jo Parks kept a clean sheet while registering eight saves.
“Special kids play big in special moments, and that’s what she did,” Ruchti said.
Parks stood strong in the face of constant pressure on Saturday, and she found a way to keep Boise off the scoreboard despite defending three shots in quick succession early in the second half.
Boise’s Emma Zelinsky collected a corner kick and tried to score on a header, but the ball ricocheted off the right post. Stanford commit Logan Smith — Sammy’s older sister — collected the rebound and tried a header of her own, but Parks deflected it for a save. It was still live when Madeline Colborn got her right foot on a shot that sailed high, leaving the game scoreless with about 30 minutes left in regulation.
“It was shot after shot, and our defense was working as hard as it could,” Parks said. “But we didn’t hesitate, and I was going to do everything in my power to make sure they did not score on me.”
Even though Lake City hadn’t lost a game since a setback against Gonzaga Prep on Sept. 11 and was riding a 10-game winning streak heading into the state title game, the Timberwolves made the long trip from Coeur d’Alene to Meridian feeling like underdogs on Saturday. But they embraced it, and that’s why they’re state champions, Kortus said.
“Coming into it knowing we’re in their hometown, they had their whole student section and we came from eight hours away,” Kortus said. “We felt like we were the underdog the entire time. But we also wanted to use that to our advantage because they didn’t expect much out of us, and it paid off.”
Rocky Mountain 3, Highland 1: The Grizzlies (20-2-0) rode goals from Violet Rademacher and Nadia Kincaid to a win in the third-place game, securing their eighth straight state tournament trophy. Rocky Mountain also benefited from a Highland own goal.
Timberline 2, Centennial 1: Chloe Bowes scored twice to lead the Wolves (15-5-1) to the consolation title.
This story was originally published October 23, 2021 at 6:35 PM.
