A new champ or a record-setting dynasty? Timberline, Rocky Mtn to vie for 5A state title
The Southern Idaho Conference continued its dominance at the 5A boys soccer state tournament Friday.
An all-Treasure Valley semifinal round ensured the state champion will remain in the Boise area for the 11th straight year. But Saturday’s championship matchup between Timberline and Rocky Mountain provides plenty of intrigue.
Timberline will attempt to win its third straight state title behind another suffocating defense. But Rocky Mountain has already provided plenty of dramatic moments this week, twice scoring two goals in the final 10 minutes to reach their first finals since 2018.
The full championship schedule is as follows:
- 5A: No. 4 Rocky Mountain vs. No. 3 Timberline, 2 p.m. at Eagle
- 4A: No. 1 Wood River vs. No. 6 Sandpoint, 3 p.m. at Middleton
- 3A: No. 1 Sugar-Salem vs. No. 2 Sun Valley, 10 a.m. at Middleton
[Related: Full state soccer tournament scores, updated brackets]
ROCKY MOUNTAIN 2, EAGLE 1
Eagle silenced Rocky Mountain junior Rylan McPherson for 78 minutes Friday. But the Grizzlies star forward got the last laugh.
McPherson blazed past the entire Mustangs defense, turned the corner at the end line and edged the game-winning goal past Eagle goalkeeper Matthew Gabriele from an impossible angle in the 79th minute to cap a last-minute comeback.
“I saw the goalie come off his line a little bit,” McPherson said. “So there was just this space between his foot and the post, and I just put it right there.”
No. 4 Rocky Mountain (15-2-1) tried in vain all afternoon to spring McPherson with a long ball. But Eagle eliminated the passing lanes, forced the Grizzlies to go over the top and tasking Gabriele with gobbling up any loose balls before McPherson could get to them.
McPherson and Gabriele, club teammates, jawed at each other much of the afternoon. Gabriele even toyed with McPherson, dramatically falling on top of loose balls at the last second to drain the clock. But the tone changed when an Eagle own goal tied the game in the 73rd minute. And then McPherson created an opportunity out of thin air in the final minute.
“Good players, you can shut them down for 80% to 90% of the game. But they only need one opportunity,” Rocky Mountain coach Bill Taylor said.
“... They all try and shut him down early. And they do a good job, for the most part, keeping him quiet. But he just waits for that moment. He’s like a shark waiting. You can’t coach that.”
No. 8 Eagle (12-6-3) opened the scoring in the 52nd minute. Neither team could put a header on a clearance deep into Rocky Mountain territory. So Trey Sather chased down the bouncing ball to the left side of the box, then beat Rocky Mountain’s Myles Cromar to the near post.
But the Mustangs couldn’t hold the lead, falling into the third-place game against Boise at 12 p.m. Saturday at Eagle.
TIMBERLINE 1, BOISE 0
No 5A boys soccer team has won three straight state titles since the IHSAA began sponsoring the tournament in 2000. But an early goal and a suffocating defense kept the Wolves’ bid for history alive.
No. 3 Timberline (17-2-2) avenged a 3-1 loss to No. 2 Boise in the district semifinals last week, shutting down the conference’s highest-scoring offense. The Brave mustered five shots but rarely challenged Timberline goalkeeper Channing Beck.
Beck made five saves, and he got an assist from the post in the 59th minute to become just the second keeper to shut out Boise (15-4-2) this season.
“We couldn’t really ask much more from our backline,” Timberline coach Adrian Kane said. “Baraka (Dayi), Daniel (Hirai), their whole front line is incredibly dangerous. To be able to limit the number of chances they got, it just speaks volumes about our backline today.”
Zach Taylor scored Timberline’s only goal for the second straight day in the 13th minute. Aidan Kearney launched a deep throw-in into the box, where Kyle Atkinson flicked a header toward Taylor. The Wolves’ top goal scorer ripped a header of his own into the back of the net, and the Wolves’ defense took care of the rest.
“I saw an opening,” Taylor said. “It was a little bit in front of me, and I dove for it. I’m lucky I got good enough contact so I could put it in the back of the net.”
Friday’s semifinal victory added to the rivalry between the two Boise schools. They’ve met eight times in the past three years, including a pair of Timberline victories in the state finals the past two years.
But the Wolves need one more victory this year to put their names in the record books.
“The job’s not finished, and we just got to keep pushing,” Taylor said. “We’re one game away from making history.”
4A STATE TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS
BISHOP KELLY FALLS IN PENALTIES: The Knights fell a shootout short of making the 4A state championship game for the third straight year Friday at Caldwell’s Brothers Park.
Wood River and Bishop Kelly battled to a 0-0 draw through 100 minutes. The Wolverines then topped BK 5-4 in penalties for a spot in the state finals.
No. 1 Wood River (17-2-2) will face No. 6 Sandpoint (11-4-0) at 3 p.m. Saturday at Middleton for the title. No. 4 Bishop Kelly (15-3-3) takes on No. 7 Blackfoot (12-4-1) at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Brothers Park in the third-place game.
3A STATE TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS
SUGAR-SALEM 2, MCCALL-DONNELLY 1: Ben Owens scored a pair of goals to down the Vandals as the top-ranked Diggers (18-1-1) advanced to face No. 2 Sun Valley (18-2-0) in the 3A state finals at 10 a.m. Saturday at Middleton.
Caleb Beaman put away the lone goal for McCall-Donnelly (11-3-2), which faces American Falls (14-4-3) in the third-place game at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Vallivue.
This story was originally published October 20, 2023 at 6:46 PM.
