Boys state soccer tournaments: Penalty kick decides 6A title; Vallivue hoists 5A trophy
The odds were stacked against the Boise boys soccer team when the sun rose Saturday morning.
A stomach bug was making its way through the roster, senior star forward Baraka Dayi was ineligible to play after drawing a red card in the semifinals, and the Brave had lost four in a row to top-ranked Rocky Mountain.
None of that mattered.
Boise edged Rocky Mountain 1-0 in overtime to win the 6A state championship at Coeur d’Alene High School. It was the seventh state title in program history in the IHSAA era, but first since 2020.
“A lot of times a team can be split, coming from different clubs, coming from different walks of life,” Boise senior goalkeeper Travis Bartich said. “But this season, our whole team came together. We’re all best friends, and we made it happen together. I’m so glad to see it happen for all my teammates.”
After playing to a 0-0 tie through 80 minutes of regulation, the Brave (17-3-1) got the one chance they needed when senior William Pooser was fouled in the box in overtime. Pooser was too injured to take the penalty kick himself, so fellow senior Alex Hoefer lined up in his place.
Hoefer cashed in on a right-footed dart to the left of Rocky Mountain keeper Paul Mercadante in the 86th minute, and Hoefer’s teammates chased him around the field in celebration.
“I’ve never seen Alex miss a PK in training, so I knew he’d score,” Boise senior center back Tucker Smith said. “I gave him the ball, and I was fully confident that he was going to make it. There was no doubt in my mind that we were going to be state champions when Alex had the ball.”
Since winning it all in 2020, Boise had finished second (2021), second (2022) and third at state (2023). And just last week, the Brave lost 3-2 in overtime to the Grizzlies (17-2-2) in the 6A District Three Tournament championship game.
“We’re a team that carried a big chip on our shoulder all year,” Smith said. “We’d lost at state three years in a row. But we’re just fighters. We play extremely hard and we have very few egos. We play for each other and we play to win rather than playing for individual statistics or glory.”
Entering Saturday’s championship match, Dayi led the Brave in both goals (18) and assists (12). But he received a straight red card with 4 seconds left in Friday’s semifinal win over Owyhee, making him ineligible to play in the title game.
“I’ve never had a feeling like that after winning and going to a state championship game,” said Boise coach Mike Darrow, who is in his 24th season coaching the Brave.
“Everybody was just dumbfounded. We won, but what just happened? They were a little down for a bit, but we had a team meeting last night and we were like, ‘Hey, whether or not (Dayi) is playing, we’ve got 18 other guys that are sitting here who want to win.’ We just had to step up and do it.”
OWYHEE 3, BISHOP KELLY 1: The Storm (14-6-2) finished their first state tournament appearance in program history with the third-place trophy.
Senior Graham Herzog scored two goals for Owyhee, while senior Diell Gashi added one goal and senior Owen Selby had one assist.
Bishop Kelly (14-5-3) got its lone goal from senior midfielder Brayden Thomas.
MOUNTAIN VIEW 2, THUNDER RIDGE 1: The No. 7 Mavericks (12-10-2) edged the No. 5 Titans for the consolation title. Sophomores Dominick Tristan and Amjed Salim each scored one goal for Mountain View.
5A BOYS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT
VALLIVUE 3, WOOD RIVER 1: The Falcons earned the second state title in program history with a victory over the top-ranked and defending state champion Wolverines at Bonneville High School in Idaho Falls.
Vallivue’s other championship came in 2020. Both championship years, coach Christian Adamson said an actual falcon flew over the team’s bench during their game, which he took as a good omen.
“It was pretty cool,” said Adamson, who is stepping down as Vallivue’s coach after eight seasons.
Junior attacking midfielder Elijah Grimaldo, center mid Jose Bonilla and wing Ryan Steinbach scored for the Falcons (13-2-2). Grimaldo’s goal came on a solo shot, and Bonilla found the back of the net when he corralled a ball that had ricocheted off the cross bar for a 2-0 lead at halftime.
Steinbach made it 3-0 Vallivue off an assist from Bonilla in the second half.
“We knew we had to defend well, because we knew that Wood River was very well-rounded,” Adamson said. “They counter very quickly with a lot of numbers, so it was a matter of controlling the middle of the field. We did that really well, we defended well and we also finished our opportunities early.”
4A BOYS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT
TETON 2, MCCALL-DONNELLY 1: The fifth-seeded Vandals (12-4-5) came up short against the No. 3 Timberwolves in the third-place match at Real Life Fields in Post Falls. Senior Solomon Arndt notched McCall-Donnelly’s goal.
This story was originally published October 26, 2024 at 7:56 PM.
