Caldwell never trailed all season. That dominant streak led to another state soccer title

An undefeated season came down to penalty kicks.

Caldwell sophomore Fabian Arguello delivered in the pressure-packed moment.

Arguello converted the deciding penalty kick Saturday, lifting the Caldwell High boys soccer team to the 4A state championship at Real Life Fields in Post Falls. The Cougars edged Bishop Kelly 4-3 in a shootout after a scoreless draw to cap a season in which they never trailed for a single minute.

“We knew BK would have a great game plan to stop us,” Caldwell coach Rhys Yeakley told the Idaho Statesman via text message. “They know us well after three games and really stifled our offense. Our defense has been our strength all year, and they proved it once again. Those four in the back are the heroes of this team.”

The Cougars (20-0-1) earned their third state title in five years, knocking off defending state champ Bishop Kelly (12-6-4) for the fourth time this season after the Knights made an underdog run to the finals as the No. 8 seed.

Both defenses kept the opposing attacks in check, holding the offenses to one shot on target across regulation and overtime.

The best chance at a goal came with five minutes left in overtime, when a pass into Caldwell’s 6-yard box found Bishop Kelly’s Josh Taugher at the back post, but the shot sailed over the crossbar.

In the shootout, Colton Crawford’s shot wide left appeared to give Caldwell the upper hand. But Bishop Kelly goalkeeper Justin McGrew dove left to deny the Cougars’ Jaden Pineda and keep the PK tally at 2-2.

It was 3-3 heading to the fifth shooters. Bishop Kelly’s Allan Huerta hit the middle of the crossbar with his shot. That set up Arguello, who buried the ball into the bottom left corner for the championship.

“(Fabian) is a great player and probably played one of his best games today,” Yeakley said. “He is confident and probably our best at PKs. I let the boys pick the order after I chose the shooters, and he wanted the last one. He is extremely confident in his talent.

“He told me he was thinking, ‘Dang, I’m about to win the championship for Caldwell,’ when he stepped up with the chance to win it.”

3A BOYS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT

MCCALL WINS CONSOLATION TITLE: The Vandals edged Kimberly 4-3 in penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw to end their season with a trophy.

Keaton Swift and Beckett Mortimer scored for McCall-Donnelly (14-1-2), while Brian Rodriguez led Kimberly with two goals. Vandals’ goalkeeper Michael Foster had 11 saves.

This story was originally published October 22, 2022 at 10:06 PM.