Star forward nearly left Timberline. But he stayed and carried Wolves to another state title
Zach Taylor almost didn’t play for the Timberline boys soccer team this year.
The junior forward received an invite to join the Portland Timbers’ youth academy. But the club didn’t have space in its housing complex, so Taylor and his family decided to stay in Boise.
The move worked out for the Wolves — Taylor carried them to their third straight state championship Saturday.
Taylor netted a second-half hat trick in a 3-1 victory over Rocky Mountain on Saturday, leaving him with all five of Timberline’s goals at the state tournament as it captured a rare three-peat. No 5A boys soccer team had won three straight state titles since the IHSAA began sponsoring the tournament in 2000.
“I have nothing else to say,” Timberline (18-2-2) coach Adrian Kane said with a shrug. “Words can’t describe how well he’s played this season.
“I mean, he had every single goal in the state tournament for us — three games, five goals. He’s just an incredible player.”
A key part on all three state championship teams, Taylor first put the Wolves on the board in the 47th minute. Quintin Boggs’ corner kick to the back post found Cole Stoddard, who headed the ball back across the face of the net. It fell into a scrum, and Taylor pounced on it to break a scoreless tie.
Taylor then buried a 25-yard free kick in the 54th minute, bending the ball around the wall and inside the right post. And he completed the hat trick in the 70th minute when Beltran Espasandin’s misfire found Taylor’s feet 15 yards from the net, and the striker buried it for his 19th goal of the year.
Taylor’s flurry followed a defensive battle in the first half. Timberline employed three center backs to start the game, attempting to slow prolific Rocky Mountain forward Rylan McPherson (27 goals). The strategy worked, but the Wolves didn’t have a single shot on net at the break.
So Kane switched back to the Wolves’ tried-and-true 4-3-3 formation in the second half, and the goals flowed.
“In terms of spacing, we play really well with our formation that we started the second half with,” Taylor said. “I think we play that better. It really opened up space for us to work in the middle, and we got to combine and play a little more soccer how we like to play.”
Riggs Peterson kept Rocky Mountain from getting shutout with a strike in the 79th minute. But even with a traditional back line of four defenders, Timberline kept McPherson off the scoresheet and frustrated Rocky Mountain’s attackers.
“We had two on Rylan at all times, no matter where he was,” Timberline goalkeeper Bryce Elder said. “We made it happen. We locked the whole attacking third down the whole game.”
Elder made seven saves to cover for any leaks in the back line. That included a diving stop on a McPherson free kick in the 39th minute, a sliding clearance on a potential breakaway in the 51st minute and stonewalling a point-blank shot from Hasan Alaali in the 73rd.
“He came up huge,” Kane said. “He had his best two games of his career today and yesterday.
“... For someone who never played goalkeeper before he got to high school, I would say he stepped up to the challenge. He was a basketball player that we taught how to play goalkeeper, and he’s an amazing athlete.”
Calling Timberline’s straight state title a surprise remains a stretch. They finished second in the 5A SIC preseason poll, and they took second in the regular-season standings behind Rocky Mountain. But the Wolves didn’t steamroll opponents like they had the past two seasons, when they went a combined 38-1-4.
Kane pointed out the Wolves had to overcome more adversity this season. Their aura of invincibility disappeared after a 2-0 loss at Rocky Mountain in September and a 3-1 loss to Boise in the district semifinals. But Timberline mounted a run when it mattered most.
“A lot of people thought our run was over,” Kane said. “So for our guys to be able to come here and prove that they were just as good as the guys that came before them, I think that means a lot to the group.”
BOISE 4, EAGLE 1: Baraka Dayi recorded three goals in the final two minutes to break a 1-1 tie in the third-place game. Dayi buried a pair of breakaway opportunities from Daniel Hirai in the 78th and 79th minutes, then converted a penalty kick in the 79th minute. The win ensured Boise (16-4-2) earned a state trophy for the fourth straight year.
LAKE CITY 1, CENTENNIAL 0: Gavin Schoener broke a scoreless tie in the 71st minute as the Timberwolves (17-1-0) earned the consolation trophy.
4A STATE TOURNAMENT
BISHOP KELLY TAKES THIRD: Senior Andrew Nguyen ended his career with a hat trick and an assist, leading the Knights to a 6-0 win over Blackfoot in the third-place game. Elijah Klaas and Alex Johnson also scored for Bishop Kelly (16-3-3), who also received help from a Blackfoot own goal.
This story was originally published October 21, 2023 at 6:36 PM.
