District soccer title
to Wood River
Cutthroat girls fight back for second
By JODY ZARKOS
Express Staff Writer
Both the Wood River High and Community
School girls’ soccer teams will drive the same road to get to this week’s State
3A tournament in Buhl.
How they got on that road is as different
as the teams themselves.
Leading scorer Charlotte Gourlay (24 goals) will lead the Wood River High
School girls’ soccer team into the State 3A tourney Thursday in Buhl. Express
photo by David N. Seelig
Wood River cruised to its second district
championship with a convincing pair of shutouts. The Wolverines beat Buhl 5-0
and Declo 4-0.
In contrast, The Community School
qualified for state by a margin so slim that even Lara Flynn Boyle couldn’t
squeeze through it.
In the five-team district draw, the
Cutthroats opened at home last Tuesday with a surprising 3-2 loss to Declo, a
team the Sun Valley girls had beaten twice during the season.
But the X factor was the absence of senior
stopper Morgan Arritola, who was sidelined by a nasty cold. And the Hornets were
able to capitalize.
Ireland King is an up-and-coming player for Wood River. Express photo
by David N. Seelig
On Wednesday, Sun Valley came back to
shutout Buhl 2-0 and earn another shot at the Hornets in a loser-out contest at
Declo Friday.
Sun Valley prevailed 2-1 with Cassidy
Doucette scoring the game-winning goal with four minutes remaining.
"The game really could have gone either
way," assistant coach Nicky Ellsbree remarked. "It was exciting."
District soccer recap
WR 5, Buhl 0
The Wolverines ripped five goals
in the first half to best Buhl 5-0 in Hailey last Tuesday. Five different
players scored, including Charlotte Gourlay, Margii Driscoll, Kate Elgee, Gina
Thomas and Jutta Zierer.
WR 4, Declo 0
Senior striker Charlotte Gourlay
led the Wolverines to their second district title.
Gourlay scored three consecutive goals in
the 4-0 shutout of Declo. Margii Driscoll and Gourlay put Hailey up 2-0 at
halftime.
"They played great. They stepped up and
did not let down," coach Doug Stouffer said about his team.
Declo 3, C-School 2
It was better late than never for
forward Cassidy Doucette, who scored late in the second half to tie the game
2-2.
Christina Walsworth also found the back of
the net for her second goal in two games.
The teams were in the final moments of
sudden-death when the Hornets nailed the game-winner to send Sun Valley to a
loser-out contest against Buhl.
C-School 2, Buhl 0
Determined to win, the Cutthroats
converted on a beautiful bang-bang play from Jenny Rutherford to Sara Berman to
Krista Detwiler for a 1-0 lead which held up throughout the game.
Cassidy Doucette punched in a redirect
from Amy Alexander on a goal-mouth scramble for a 2-0 final.
Caitlin Enright was a key factor in the
win. Playing defensive midfielder, the swift Enright cut down two breakaways and
also made the free kick which Doucette scored on.
C-School 2, Declo 1
The Hornets should have known
better than to let Cassidy Doucette alone in the final minutes of a game.
With the game tied 1-1 with four minutes
on the clock, Doucette twined the game-winner to send the Cutthroats to state.
It was her third goal in as many games.
Jenny Rutherford put in a Kira Tenney
corner kick for the game’s opening score.