Wood River handles Burley 4-1
Boys? soccer showdown
Wood River?s charge to the top of the area 4A boys? soccer ranks has been led by eight trusty seniors including center midfielder and co-captain Ted Dankanyin. Photo by David N. Seelig
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Burley was riding high from its 6-2 victory over Twin Falls, and Wood River was coming off one of its worst performances of the season in a lackadaisical 3-1 victory at Pocatello.
You might have thought the host Burley Bobcats had the advantage over Wood River in last Thursday?s first of two regular-season showdowns between the two powers in the Great Basin Conference West 4A league.
Think again. Coach Farrell Swain?s unbeaten Wolverines (7-0-1, 3-0 league) were ready to play and they beat Burley 4-1 behind two goals by Carl Jablonski and singles by Spencer Cordovano and Audie McCann.
Burley (6-2-1, 2-1 league), its six-game unbeaten streak snapped, regrouped Saturday with a 4-0 home win over Preston. Wood River and Burley clash again Oct. 12 in Hailey.
Swain said, ?The 4-1 score doesn?t really give you an idea of how tough a game it was. Burley played a great game. Overall they?re the strongest team we?ve seen. We had to step it up and play one of our best games of the season. I was proud of our players.?
Wood River?s defense went man-to-man against Burley?s ?two target guys,? according to Swain.
Senior defender Reno Christino had the assignment of guarding Burley?s Eduardo Anguiano, who had scored four goals in the 6-2 Bobcat victory at Twin Falls Sept. 21. ?Reno played an amazing game. He was on Eduardo the whole game,? said Swain.
Levi Crandall, Wolverine senior defender, had the other man-to-man task and also played well. ?Our backs just played great,? Swain added.
You always want to score early, and Wood River scored about as early as possible after the kickoff when Cordovano punched home the first goal in a goal mouth scramble just 23 seconds into the 80-minute contest. It was the fourth goal for junior Cordovano.
?Our confidence rose with that goal and we were on fire,? Swain said.
Jablonski took a McCann pass and scored midway through the first half for a 2-0 Wolverine lead. Burley replied with a goal two minutes into the second half, but Wood River held its own against the Bobcat momentum.
Jablonski?s second goal of the game and seventh of the season gave Wood River a 3-1 boost, then McCann headed home a Sagen Howard free kick for his team-leading ninth goal.
Wood River, now ranked second in the Idahosports.com 4A ranking behind Emmett (8-4-1) and two spots ahead of fourth-place Burley, entertains the Minico Spartans Thursday, Sept. 30 on the Hailey field and goes to Pocatello Saturday to play Century.
