Girls state soccer: Centennial upsets defending champ. Boise edges Rocky in semis
5A GIRLS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT
CENTENNIAL 1, LAKE CITY 0: Senior forward Asia Lawyer rode to the rescue for the second straight day, scoring the Patriots’ only goal to upset the top-ranked Timberwolves.
Lawyer and Jada Miller combined for a counterattack in the 54th minute to spoil a perfect season for Lake City (16-1-0), the defending state champion.
Lawyer received a ball at midfield and flicked it to Miller down the left wing. Miller beat her defender into the box and fired a shot to the near post. It beat the goalkeeper but bounced off the goalpost, only to find the feet of Lawyer, who made a 50-yard run to find herself wide open in front of an empty net.
She also scored the only goal in No. 5 Centennial’s 1-0 victory over Eagle on Thursday. Friday’s strike gave the Boise State commit 22 goals this season.
“She just has an eye for goal,” Centennial coach Olly Frick said. “It’s 20-plus goals she’s scored this year. You have to have an eye and the mentality to be in the right place at the right time. That’s what you want out of a striker, and she does that.”
The dramatic win sent Centennial (14-4-3) to the finals for the first time since 2017. The Patriots will face Boise at 2 p.m. Saturday at Bonneville High. Boise won the only meeting between the two this season 4-0 on Aug. 29.
“The girls, if we were to ask them six, seven weeks ago when I took over the team if we’d be in the state final, they would question it,” Frick said. “They are shocked. The emotions are running through them, and they are happy.”
BOISE 2, ROCKY MOUNTAIN 0: The Brave will chase an elusive state championship again, qualifying for the finals for the fifth straight year. They have four straight runner-up finishes.
Mia Barron put Boise (18-1-0) up early, corralling a bouncing ball in the fifth minute and sending a 20-yard shot up and over the Rocky Mountain goalkeeper.
Kunie Hirai added a highlight-reel insurance goal in the 77th minute. She drew contact on a shot from 25 yards out, but still bent it wide before curling it back into the top right corner.
Boise coach Nicole Arsenault said her team isn’t focused on the past but instead the opportunity ahead Saturday.
“History is history,” Arsenault said. “It doesn’t have anything to do with tomorrow. We’ll just approach it with that mindset, like we have every game this season.”
Boise’s last state championship came in 2013.
HIGHLAND 3, TIMBERLINE 2: Isabella Widmor struck in the eighth minute and Ashlyn Sandow followed in the 22nd minute as the Wolves (11-6-4) built an early 2-0 lead. But the Rams rallied with three unanswered goals to end Timberline’s season in a 5A consolation game.
Caitlin Staats scored twice and Tambree Bell once for Highland (14-4-2) in the comeback.
EAGLE 4, THUNDER RIDGE 0: Merea Hummer, Grace Nelson, MacKenzi Brown and Daphne Bothwell all found the back of the net as the Mustangs extended their season with a blowout win in the 5A consolation bracket.
Eagle (15-4-1) will face Highland for the consolation title at 10 a.m. Saturday at Bonneville High.
4A GIRLS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT
BISHOP KELLY 3, POCATELLO 2: A back-and-forth affair ended in the No. 1 Knights’ favor, with Sophie Schmautz scoring a second-half hat trick to power BK (16-2-1) past the No. 4-seeded Thunder (15-6-1).
Pocatello goals from Hallie Bringhurst and Holly Buffat evened the score at 1-1 and 2-2, but Schmautz got the last laugh for Bishop Kelly with a shot past goalkeeper Kirstine Kent for the winner.
The Knights held a 12-3 shot advantage.
Bishop Kelly will face No. 3 Twin Falls (16-2-2), the defending state champion, in the title game at 5 p.m. Mountain time Saturday at Real Life Fields in Post Falls. The Bruins defeated the Knights 1-0 in the semifinals last year.
VALLIVUE 2, CANYON RIDGE 0: Alondra Osuna scored in the 15th minute and Kendal Neumeyer struck eight minutes later as the Falcons won a 4A consolation match.
Katie Kaba made six saves, including several key ones in the second half, for the shutout. Vallivue (12-7-1) will take on Bonneville (12-2-3) for the consolation title at 11 a.m. Mountain time Saturday.
3A GIRLS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT
FRUITLAND 1, TIMBERLAKE 0: Baylee Rawlinson scored the game’s only goal to send No. 5 Fruitland (15-2-1) to the state final.
Fruitland goalkeeper Maddie Hardy had to make just one save to earn the shutout in a strong defensive effort against the No. 8 Tigers (11-7-1).
Fruitland will take on No. 2 Sun Valley Community (20-1-0) at 3 p.m Saturday at Twin Falls’ Sunway Complex.
MCCALL-DONNELLY 3, BUHL 0: Peyton Lathrop found the back of the net twice, and Piper Lamm added a third goal as the Vandals cruised in a 3A consolation match.
McCall-Donnelly (11-5-1) faces top-seeded Coeur d’Alene Charter (17-1-0) for the consolation title at 10 a.m. Saturday.
This story was originally published October 21, 2022 at 5:43 PM.
