State Cup soccer: New combo club Boise Timbers Thorns cleans house
The Boise youth soccer landscape changed dramatically last summer when two of its best clubs combined. This weekend’s State Cup provided the first look at how much of a power shift there has been.
The Boise Nationals used to be strong in the boys divisions, Nova FC the girls, and the Idaho Rush provided stability and parity. Two years ago, in fact, the Rush nearly won everything, but this year they failed to bring home a single championship.
The combination of Nova FC and Boise Nationals — known now as the Boise Timbers Thorns — won 12 of a possible 14 titles.
“There used to be three pieces of the pie,” said Lee Riley, Idaho Rush CEO. “Those other two teams have to join to compete, and when you bring more talent together, they have better teams. This year they are going to be better than us for sure.”
One of those teams, the U-18 Boise Thorns girls squad, won a State Cup by playing with only 10 up until the title game. Some players missed games to attend family events, including graduations. That Thorns team beat CGA Academy 5-1 in the final with its full lineup on hand. The goal was the only one that the Thorns gave up the whole tournament.
“We have always been strong on the girls side,” said Tom Fetzer, head coach of the U-18 girls team. “Collectively, it has brought a pool of really strong players and it has been able to elevate the game for us.”
Rush empty-handed
The Rush sent four teams to championship games but left the Simplot Sports Complex with only second-place medals. All four losses came at the hands of the Timbers Thorns.
“We will be back,” Riley said. “... We have kids that love the game, are passionate about the game. We are an all-around club.”
The final hope for the Rush was in the U-14 girls championship. After falling behind 3-1 late in the second half, a furious Rush attack finally scored off a free kick. The shot clanked in off the crossbar from 25 yards out, cutting the lead to one, but the Rush lost 3-2.
Over the four games, the Rush were outscored 12-3.
Cutthroats win one for the small guys
Every age group that used a bracketed system to determine its champion saw a Boise Timbers Thorns team win a cup. But two age groups, the U-14 boys and the U-19 boys, each used a round robin tournament because they had only five teams.
The U-19 tournament was won by the Boise Cutthroats, a team made up of mostly minorities that was formed to help combat the rising cost of youth sports. The Cutthroats won their round robin tournament by earning a total of 10 points. Teams received three points for a win and one for a tie.
“Now they saw that we do good things,” said Carlos Gonzalez, coach of the Cutthroats. “They don’t need to spend too much money to play soccer. This is why we needed this win today.”
Timbers North, a club that still affiliates with Portland’s MLS team and is located in Coeur d’Alene instead of Boise, won the U-14 round robin tournament with 10 points.
Far West Regionals
This year’s State Cup featured 95 teams from across Idaho. Of those 16 go to the Far West Regional Tournament, which again will be held in Boise at the Simplot Sports Complex, June 17-23. It’s the third time in five years that Boise has hosted. If a team wins the Far West Regionals, it goes to the national tournament played just outside Kansas City.
The state champions, along with four wild-card teams in the U-13 boys, U-18 boys, U-17 girls and U-18 girls, all move on to regionals. The wild cards are determined by runner-up finishes in those age groups.
The regional tournament will feature 220 teams from the West, and tournament officials estimate that it will bring in as many as 15,000 people. Boise will host the Far West Regional Tournament next year as well.
This year’s championship matches
U-13 boys: Boise Timbers PA-GK 2, Idaho Rush 0 (Both teams to Far West Regionals)
U-13 girls: Boise Thorns Elite 2, Indie Chicas 1 (Boise Thorns to Far West Regionals)
U-14 boys: Timbers North win five-team round robin with 10 points (Timbers North to Far West Regionals)
U-14 girls: Boise Thorns 3, Idaho Rush 2 (Boise Thorns to Far West Regionals)
U-15 boys: Boise Timbers 1, Timbers North 0 (4-2 on penalty kicks) (Boise Thorns to Far West Regionals)
U-15 girls: Boise Thorns Elite 5, Rush Premiere 1 (Boise Thorns Elite to Far West Regionals)
U-16 boys: Boise Timbers PA 2, Timbers North 1 (3-0 in penalty kicks) (Boise Timbers PA to Far West Regionals)
U-16 girls: Boise Thorns Elite 2, Indie Chicas 1 (Boise Thorns Elite to Far West Regionals)
U-17 boys: Boise Timbers PA 1, Rush Premiere 0 (Boise Timbers to Far West Regionals)
U-17 girls: Boise Thorns 3, COSC Inferno 0 (Both teams to Far West Regionals)
U-18 boys: Boise Thorns PA-ES 3, Timbers North 0 (Both teams to Far West Regionals)
U-18 girls: Boise Thorns Elite 5, CGA Academy 1 (Both teams to Far West Regionals)
U-19 boys: Cutthroats FC-Academy win five-team round robin with 10 points (To Far West)
U-19 girls: Boise Thorns Elite 2, Thorns North 1 (5-4) in penalties (Boise Thorns to Far West Regionals)
This story was originally published May 27, 2019 at 5:54 PM.