Two years ago, Bishop Kelly won two games. Now it’s the 4A boys soccer state champ
State championship banners hang in throngs at Bishop Kelly High, memorializing title teams from year after year in every high school sport Idaho offers.
One sport remained notably underrepresented. But Bishop Kelly will soon have to make room for its boys soccer team.
The Knights topped Sandpoint 3-1 in the 4A state finals Saturday at Middleton High, earning the program its first state title since 1996 and a rare championship banner to hang from the rafters.
“It’s the greatest feeling in the world because my team is my family,” Bishop Kelly junior forward Colton Crawford said. “Just knowing how much we’ve grown, and we’ve gone through everything together, it’s just a fantastic feeling.”
The championship also completes a remarkable turnaround for Bishop Kelly (17-3-2), which posted a 2-13-3 record just two years ago and had only qualified for six state tournaments in the previous 21 years. But that history only made Saturday’s celebration even sweeter.
“We all wanted it so badly,” Bishop Kelly senior Shawn Cabus said. “It’s been so long. We finally felt like we had something going. We had a strong team, and we put everything into it this year.”
Cabus and Crawford threatened the Sandpoint (10-5-0) net all night with their speed and dazzling one-on-one moves.
Cabus had a hand in all three goals for the Knights. His cross into the box in the 19th minute found sophomore Landan Schweiger, who headed in his just his second goal of the season to give the Knights the early lead.
Cabus then dominated the second half with blistering runs down the wings. He juked a defender and raced to the end line in the 46th minute before sending a centering pass into the box for Crawford. The pass found the foot of Sandpoint’s Nolan Angell, one of a host of scrambling Bulldogs, and ricocheted into the net for an own goal.
Not to be cheated, Cabus buried a highlight reel goal two minutes later. He out-raced Sandpoint goalkeeper Roman Jiles to a long ball, poking the ball free into space near the end line. Seeking an angle for a shot, he then juked two more defenders before finding an opening at the top corner of the box.
Jiles had recovered and returned to his line. But he had no shot to stop a rocket into the top right corner.
“He was creating everything going down the wing,” Crawford said. “They just couldn’t hang with him. Everything he was doing was benefiting the team positively, and it was just great to watch.”
Sandpoint avoided the shutout with Evan Darling’s header in the 56th minute. But it was too little, too late. And the Knights stormed the field after waiting 25 years for the opportunity.
The title is the first for Bishop Kelly since Idaho began sponsoring an official state tournament in 2000. Before that, tournaments were not run by the state’s high school sports governing body.
“That’s kind of the benchmark at BK, blue trophies,” Bishop Kelly coach Jared Vreeland said. “It’s just an incredible feeling. The kids worked hard. We talked about this being our year and kind of a team of destiny.”
Jerome 3, Hillcrest 2: Bishop Kelly ended Jerome’s undefeated season in the semifinals. But the Tigers (14-1-4) bounced back for the third-place trophy behind goals from Ubaldo Palacios, Luis Chavez and Isaiah Nevarez.
Canyon Ridge 2, Caldwell 1: The Cougars (16-5-1) fell in the 4A consolation final, ending their run of five straight years with a state tournament trophy. Fabian Arguello scored Caldwell’s only goal off an assist from Axel Gonzalez.
VALLIVUE GIRLS SOCCER TAKES SECOND IN 4A
Presented with the second-place trophy at the end of the 4A girls soccer tournament, the Falcons didn’t hang their heads. They didn’t sulk. They didn’t shun the hardware.
Instead, Vallivue senior forward Lizbeth Soto raised the red trophy high above her head to a roar from her teammates, who finished as the best team in program history.
Vallivue (15-6-1) fell 3-0 to Twin Falls in the 4A state championship Saturday at Middleton, the first time the Falcons had ever played in an IHSAA state final. Vallivue’s previous best finish was third place in 2017.
“I don’t think anyone thought we would have made it this far, which is why it means so much to us even just getting second,” Soto said. “... Making it this far, I think it just blew everyone’s mind.”
Top-ranked Twin Falls (20-1-0) took control of a wide-open, back-and-forth game with goals from Ava Schroeder and Madelyn McQueen in the 25th and 27th minutes, respectively. Bruins goalkeeper Sydney Jund then made two, momentum-saving stops of a Gracie Soto one-time shot and a Lizbeth Soto header in the 31st and 32nd minutes.
Those ended up as Vallivue’s best chances as Twin Falls tightened up defensively in the second half, adding a Jaycee Bell insurance goal in the 75th minute for the Bruins’ first IHSAA state title.
“I know my girls were a little bit nervous,” first-year Vallivue coach Mariah Castillo said. “They haven’t played in a game that means this much or is quite this big. So we kind of came out a little bit timid, I would say.
“And then we just couldn’t find the back of the net. There were a couple of very close chances I think would have changed the game early, but we just couldn’t put it away.”
Vallivue upset the traditional power structure in the 4A SIC this fall, handing Bishop Kelly its first conference loss since 2008 en route to winning the regular-season conference title. The Knights later won the district title. But Vallivue ended the state tournament with a second-place trophy while Bishop Kelly came home empty handed.
“It’s a really good feeling every time I hold (the trophy) and look at it,” said Lizbeth Soto, the 4A SIC’s leading scorer. “I’ve been waiting for years for this moment. I’m excited that it was my senior year and that I got to do it with this team.”
Skyline 2, Bishop Kelly 1, OT: The Knights’ five-year run of state tournament trophies came to an end with a golden-goal loss in the 4A third-place game. Lexi Chatterton scored the lone goal for Bishop Kelly (15-6-1) on an assist from Maggie Novosel.
Moscow 3, Pocatello 1: The Bears (6-9-1) won the consolation final behind goals from Makai Rauch, Chesney Helmke and Araya Wood.
This story was originally published October 23, 2021 at 11:00 PM.
