‘The pressure was crazy.’ Rocky Mountain junior drills a PK with a state title on the line
Eighty minutes couldn’t separate Rocky Mountain and Boise. Neither could a pair of 10-minute overtimes.
So the 6A girls soccer state championship came down to a shootout, where Rocky Mountain goalkeeper Bea Levi made one key save and Van Staley buried the game-winner, delivering the Grizzlies a 5-4 victory after a scoreless draw in Sandpoint.
“The pressure was crazy,” Staley said of the winning penalty kick. “I was thinking it was a now or never thing. The pressure was so much.”
But Staley said a few reassuring words from Levi calmed her nerves, and the junior midfielder cracked a shot into the right side netting. Boise goalkeeper Juliette Langlet guessed correctly and dove to the right spot, but had no chance to stop it.
The shootout victory earned Rocky Mountain (17-1-2) its fifth state championship and the Grizzlies’ fourth in the past six years. The perennial power closed the season on a 19-game unbeaten streak, but it started the season with its confidence shaken.
Rocky Mountain missed the state tournament a year ago for just the second time in program history, and the only coach the Grizzlies ever knew retired in the offseason. Then the fall got off to a rough start with a 6-0 loss to nationally ranked Lone Peak, Utah, which wrapped up a perfect season Friday. But first-year coach Eric Simmonsen said the Grizzlies responded to that embarrassing loss, took it as a wake-up call and haven’t lost since.
“I said they were allowed one, and they embraced it,” Simmonsen said. “They really embraced it, took it on, and figured out they could do some hard stuff.”
That hard stuff included a district championship last week and one more run at state. But Boise (14-3-2) loomed in the Saturday’s finals as the only Idaho team Rocky Mountain hadn’t beaten and the regular-season co-champion in the Southern Idaho Conference.
The Grizzlies controlled the first half with the only three shots on goal. But it couldn’t find a way to penetrate the state’s top defense through 100 minutes, sending the game to a shootout.
Rocky Mountain’s five shooters — Campbell Wilson, Teagan Weigt, Dilynn Revelle, Elly Levi and Staley — all cooly buried their spot kicks. But the Grizzlies needed one stop, and Bea Levi delivered in the third round.
Boise’s Kohl Frazier fired a head-high shot to the right, but Bea Levi said she read it all the way and punched the ball clear to put the Grizzlies in control.
“From the way her hips were turned, I could totally tell she was going that direction,” Bea Levi said. “I just fully committed to it and just got a hand on it.
“... I just knew I had to save one, and my teammates would finish it off.”
Revelle and Elly Levi kept the pressure on after the save by converting their penalties, setting the stage for Staley to deliver the game-winner. She refused to eye her target for fear of tipping her hand. But three shuffles to the left and one booming swing delivered Rocky Mountain another championship banner.
Simmonsen said he couldn’t watch but had all the confidence in the world in Staley.
“She hits the side netting every time,” Simmonsen said. “She’s ice cold. I call her ‘Van the Man,’ but nobody else does.
“She doesn’t take things personally. She’s a freaking workhorse. She’s just a freaking warrior.”
The loss delivered Boise another heartbreaking defeat in the state championship. The Brave have reached the state finals seven years in a row and have won just once (2022).
A Boise lineup thinned by injuries didn’t allow a goal through the entire tournament. But it also scored only once, Olivia Lamb’s overtime golden goal in the first round, to return home with the second-place trophy again.
OWYHEE 1, TIMBERLINE 0: The defending state champs bounced back from a shootout loss in the semifinals to capture the third-place trophy. Sofia Lindsay scored the game’s only goal for Owyhee (13-5-2).
LAKE CITY 1, BISHOP KELLY 0: Kathryn Kovatch scored the decisive goal in the consolation final, sending the Timberwolves (14-4-2) home with a trophy. The loss ends Bishop Kelly’s season at 13-6-2.
5A GIRLS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT
LEWISTON 3, MIDDLETON 1: Elsie Wyatt netted her fourth goal of the state tournament in Idaho Falls, but it wasn’t enough for top-seeded Middleton (16-3-1), which fell to second-seeded Lewiston (17-5-0) in the third-place game.
4A GIRLS SOCCER STATE TOURNAMENT
FRUITLAND 2, AMERICAN FALLS 0: The Grizzlies (18-2-1) bounced back from a semifinal loss to earn the third-place trophy in Post Falls, riding two goals from Baylee Rawlinson for the hardware.
This story was originally published October 26, 2024 at 8:38 PM.
