For the week of November 5 - 11, 2003

Wood River High School soccer players abandon their game faces for a moment—smiling as a team prior to their 4-1 state championship victory over The Community School Saturday in Buhl. Front, from left, Willie Meyers, Maicol Corrales, Chase Cleveland, co-captain K.C. Rivera, co-captain Matt Hansen, Slater Storey, Byron Epp and Bryce Newcomb. Back, from left, head coach Brian Daluiso, Garrett Leo, Dixon Mooseau, Ted Dankanyin, Reno Christino, Sagen Howard, Tate Mills, Shane Cordeau, Tristan Potters, Kristian Timmons and assistant coach Farrell Swain. We won’t let on what photographer Willy Cook said to get everybody smiling at the same time, but safe to say it wasn’t cheese. Express photo by Willy Cook

 

Tight WRHS squad savors a state championship

Hailey boys’ soccer (19-3-1) stops Payette 3-2 OT in huge opener

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By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer

There just weren’t enough superlatives to describe Wood River High School’s march to the 2003 State 3A boys’ soccer tournament championship Saturday afternoon at Bobby Diercksen Field in Buhl.

So Wood River coach Brian Daluiso, a man of few words anyway, kept it short and sweet: "It was an incredible week for us," he said.

Tate Mills (#11) scored the eventual winning goal in the state championship game. Taylor Rothgeb of The Community School (right) defends. Express photo by Willy Cook

Incredible, because Wood River upset two-time defending State 3A champion Payette 3-2 Thursday in a thrilling double overtime heavyweight match-up between the best two teams in the eight-team tournament.

Shane Cordeau scored the game winner on a great hustle play from Maicol Corrales midway through the second overtime, after other heroics by goalkeeper Kristian Timmons (stopped a penalty kick) and defender Slater Storey (blocked a sure Pirate goal).

"It was all up to who won that first game," said Wood River co-captain and sure-footed sweeper Matt Hansen. "We knew we had it after that game. All we had to do was work hard in the last two games to get it."

Wood River’s 4-1 semi-final victory over Middleton Friday put the Wolverines into the state championship game for an incredible sixth straight year. They made the most of it, beating friendly rival The Community School of Sun Valley 4-1 Saturday.

It was Wood River’s third state boys’ soccer championship, following back-to-back triumphs in 1998 and 1999, but its first title after suffering through three straight runner-up finishes from 2000 through 2002—twice losing to Payette in the final game.

Ultimate victory felt incredible, although the word "anticlimactic," was used several times to describe Wood River’s final two games after the hair-raising victory over top-ranked Payette.

Hansen, sporting a Mohawk and an incredible resolve to clear everything from the deck, said, "We all worked together to get it done. From the start of the season, from daily doubles, it’s been our goal. I’ve been waiting for three years for this. Three silvers. I didn’t like that color."

Co-captain K.C. Rivera scored the first and last goal for Wood River in the championship game, and that last goal was truly a $25 goal, coming on a bicycle kick in the box that caused the sizable championship game gallery to howl in appreciation of soccer skill.

"We supported each other all year long," said Rivera, who plays for Wood River but attends school in Carey. "We ran five million sprints for this."

Rivera saluted the effort of Wood River’s leading scorer, fellow senior Maicol Corrales (34 goals season, 54 goals career). Although Corrales scored only two of the 11 Wood River’s goals at state, he assisted on four others and exemplified the ball control nature of Hailey’s fierce attack.

"Maicol is a really unselfish player. He plays the game instinctively. We couldn’t have done it without him," said Rivera.

Wood River had so many offensive weapons, however, that Daluiso’s record-setting squad (120 goals, 5.2 per game) was always on the verge of scoring. Through ball after through ball created by deftly-placed, short passes sent Hailey’s speedy strikers through the harried defenses of foes.

The Wolverines (19-3-1) outshot a decent Payette team by a 23-12 margin in Thursday’s opening-round clash. Payette (17-2, 109-10 goals against) then took out its frustration on Preston and Snake River with 11-0 and 5-0 wins in the final two Pirate games.

"We were hoping to send Wood River a going away present. I’m glad they’ll be gone," said Payette coach Gordon Peterson, speaking with respect but referring to Wood River moving up to the 4A class in 2004.

In the championship game, Wood River out-shot The Community School 25-8 (9-1 corner kicks) in posting its fourth triumph over the Cutthroats in 2003. "It was a tough game, a good game," said Daluiso. Cutthroat coach Richard Whitelaw said, "The better team won on the day."

Wood River ended the 2003 season with 10 straight wins.

The other reason the week was incredible was the feeling of soccer camaraderie and respect unique to Wood River High and The Community School. Their players join forces in spring club soccer to improve skills and stay on task.

Friday, after the Cutthroats earned their first State A-2/3A championship game berth since 1986 with a dramatic 4-3 overtime victory over Bonners Ferry, the Wood River players without any prompting did something very cool.

They formed a tunnel with their hands on the opposite sideline. After completing their post-game handshake line, the Cutthroat players led by their star goalkeeper Luke Fostvedt noticed the tunnel formed by their friendly rivals and ran eagerly through it.

"We were under no illusion what we were up against," said Whitelaw about what he called his "ragtag" team that challenged Wood River in Saturday’s state championship game.

 

Three games, three wins

Led by senior sweeper and co-captain Taylor Rothgeb, playing the important defensive position in place of injured Ash Higgins (knee), the Cutthroats withstood a 12-4 Wolverine shot assault and held the eventual champs to a 1-0 lead at half Saturday.

Fostvedt (18 saves) had 12 big stops in the first half. The only one he didn’t get was Rivera’s first goal eight minutes into the game. Cordeau’s header sent the ball up ahead to Rivera, who dropped it to his feet and slammed a hard one into the corner.

"The first half we were shelling them but we had a tough time finishing," said Daluiso. "We’re always a little tight against The Community School. There’s always that potential to underestimate them."

Wood River was the opportunistic team four minutes after half when Corrales chased down an errant Cutthroat throw-in pass and passed the ball ahead to Tate Mills, who pounded it into the corner for a 2-0 cushion.

Rothgeb wasn’t the only Cutthroat defender making big plays. Wes Flanigan booted one out of the goal mouth in the first half and Corey Warren followed suit in the second half. Stopper Reed Boeger did his part, too.

On one of the few Cutthroat forays across the midline, Wolverine sweeper Hansen took down leading Sun Valley scorer John Hayes in the box—a collision, certainly, but it also prompted what both coaches called a "dubious" penalty kick whistle. Daluiso objected vocally to the call. Hayes buried it.

And the Cutthroats finally picked up the pace. "When it was 2-1 we made a game of it," said Whitelaw.

Cordeau (14 goals season, 20 career), a junior who scored in each state tournament game, gave the Wolverines insurance at 67 minutes with a nicely-placed header after a long direct kick by junior stopper Sagen Howard.

Five minutes later Wood River finalized the score at 4-1 on an awesome goal by Rivera, a three-year starter who was playing his first championship game up the field. He was Wood River’s goalkeeper last year and was red-carded for the final in 2001.

After a Byron Epp corner kick, Corrales launched a great header that gave Fostvedt some trouble. The ball feel loose in the box and Rivera, who had been looking for garbage on Cordeau’s header goal five minutes before, bicycle-kicked the ball into the corner.

"It was my goal of the entire season," said Rivera. "It couldn’t have come at a better time."

Daluiso agreed. "We had some good goals in the second half. But we wanted this badly. To be in this game for the last three years and lose was rough. This (winning state) was our goal from the start of the season."

The Middleton Vikings, conquerors of #2-ranked McCall-Donnelly in the Third District playoffs and 3-2 double overtime winners (5-4 PKs) over Preston Thursday, were a slight blip on Wood River’s horizon Friday.

Wood River had the Vikings running in circles and outshot Middleton 15-3 in the first half, when the Wolverines built a 3-1 lead on two lasers by Corrales and one goal-mouth scramble by Shane Cordeau.

A sequence from Cleveland to Mills to Corrales made it 1-0 three minutes into the game. Willie Meyers kept the ball alive in the box and freed it to Corrales for the second Wolverine goal. And a set-up from Meyers to Bryce Newcomb to Cordeau made it 3-0. Cordeau added a second-half goal for the 4-1 semi-final triumph.

Thursday’s Wood River-Payette tournament opener was everything it was cracked up to be. And it was the only day that the wind was a factor.

Wood River’s speed, defense and passing ability gave Payette fits from the outset, but the halftime score was 1-1 despite Wood River’s 11-4 shot advantage—playing with the wind.

Midway through the half, a bicycle kick by Corrales at the midline ended up on the foot of Epp along the wing. Epp crossed it and Chase Cleveland, who always comes up big against Payette, scored the first of his two goals.

Wood River beat Payette to the ball throughout the half, but the Hailey defense lapsed momentarily at the 22-minute mark and sophomore Humberto Cisneros fired home a loose ball after a Pirate free kick.

Payette had the wind at its back during the second half and the first 10-minute overtime period, and there were some scary moments for Wood River supporters who feared their team’s aggressiveness would backfire.

Daluiso said, "We did some stupid things and we out-fouled Payette—we gave them too many free kicks with the wind at their backs. But we wanted to let them know we were here."

You can never underestimate the importance of winning 50-50 balls, winning the midfield and dominating the headers, all of which Wood River was doing. Cordeau collected the ball after his teammates rattled around a series of headers. He sent it ahead to Cleveland, who split a seam and left-footed a 2-1 lead at 53 minutes.

It would have been 2-2, but goalkeeper Timmons saved a Brad Moon penalty kick at 55 minutes. Timmons said, "It was kind of a guess. He leaned to the left and it looked like he was going to go right." Timmons dove to the right, his left, and grabbed it.

"Kristian couldn’t have come up bigger for us all game," Daluiso said.

Although Wood River’s defense led by Hansen, Storey and Howard seemed impenetrable, Moon got his revenge with a header into the corner on a Cisneros centering pass with only five minutes left in regulation time.

Payette was frightening in the first overtime, particularly senior Artemio Lopez, who got behind Hansen and shot wide one minute into the session. Then, with only a minute left, Timmons stopped Lopez point blank but the ball stayed tantalizingly in the box.

Fortunately, Storey knew a rebound was coming. With Timmons out of the picture, Storey acted like a goalkeeper and kicked Payette’s game-winning bid safely out of harm’s way.

"We held them when they had the wind," said Daluiso.

Sagen Howard started the game-winning play five minutes into the second sudden-death overtime period. The ball went into the Pirate box, where hustling Corrales used his quickness to stick his leg in and poke it away from two Payette defenders.

It popped loose to Cordeau. He made no mistake, tucking it into the corner. Cordeau said, "Maicol tapped it with his toe. I turned it and put it in."

Daluiso said, "It was a damn good game, both sides."

Nevertheless, Daluiso realized it wasn’t the championship game. In the huddle afterwards, the coach said, "Keep your focus, guys. We’re just getting started!"

Check next week’s Local Life for more state soccer photos.

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Final Wood River statistics: Record 19-3-1 (10-1-1 home, 9-2 away). Goals scored—120 (5.2 per game). Goals against—29 (1.2). Individual scorers—Maicol Corrales 34, Chase Cleveland 17, Shane Cordeau 14, K.C. Rivera 13, Tate Mills 11, Willie Meyers 8, Byron Epp 7, Bryce Newcomb 5, Ted Dankanyin 3, Michael Connor 3, Esteban Vega 3, Slater Storey 1 and Sagen Howard 1.

Corrales with 54 goals in just two seasons became the second-leading scorer in school history, behind Jason Southward (81 from 1998-2000) and ahead of third-place teammate Chase Cleveland (41 from 2001-03). Tate Mills (25 career goals) and K.C. Rivera (24) also climbed high on the list.

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WOLVERINE NOTES—It was the first time in the 51-game, 21-season rivalry that Wood River (30-18-3 advantage) won four games in a single season over The Community School. It was also the first time Wood River beat the Cutthroats in a state tournament. The Cutthroats had beaten Wood River 4-2 in 1990 when the state meet was played at Ketchum’s Atkinson Park, and also 1-0 at state in 1989 in Nampa

Daluiso’s seven-year coaching record is now 96-24-11 including a 17-5-2 mark at seven state tournaments…..Wood River set school records for most wins (19), most games played (23) and most goals scored (120)…."We always play overtime in the first round," said Daluiso. Wood River has played OT in the first round three of the last four years—beating Payette this year, Shelley 3-2 in 2002 and South Fremont 2-1 in 2000….The team banquet is set for Nov. 13.

 

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