Wood River boys' soccer needed only two goals to down Minico in Hailey Wednesday afternoon, but Carl Jablonski gave his team four—all in the first half.
"When he's on, he's really on," Wolverines head coach Farrell Swain said of her top goal scorer.
The Wolverines cruised past Minico 5-1.
Jablonski, a junior, sparked Wood River's scoring onslaught with just over 16 minutes left in the first half, putting and end to a streak of missed opportunities. The Wolverines failed to capitalize on a half dozen scoring chances in the game's first 24 minutes.
Jablonski would score two more goals in the next seven minutes and add his fourth in the waning moments of the half. Senior Spencer Flade assisted two of Jablonski's goal, and added his own—the games highlight—with a header off a Ross Parsons pass with three minutes left in the first half.
"Yeah, that was pretty sweet," Swain said.
With a 5-0 lead at the half, Swain threw in the reserves after the break. Raul Navarette scored Minico's only goal midway through the second half—a long-range shot that appeared to catch Wolverines goalie Jesse Stark off guard.
"Jesse misread it," Swain said, adding that her senior goalie "really stepped up," against Minico.
The Wolverines improved to 1-1, redeeming a 3-1 loss to 5A Twin Falls last weekend. Wood River plays in 4A.
"This was definitely a good game and good to have after (the Twin Falls loss)," Swain said.
The second year varsity coach led her team to an undefeated regular season last year before falling in the state playoffs. She said expectations are just as high this year.
"Our goal is to always make it to state," she said. "I feel pretty confident ... we finally found a solid lineup."
The Wolverines are anchored by senior captains Spencer Cordovano, a forward, and Bryce Newcomb, a midfielder.
"It's nice to have one up top and another in back," Swain said about the balanced leadership on the field. She also pointed to junior Cory Rutkowski as a player that has stepped up this season.
"He's done a phenomenal job," she said.
Wood River travels to McCall this weekend to battle Emmitt (4A) and McCall (3A).
Girls win 6-1 at Minico
The Wood River High girls' varsity soccer team rolled past Minico 6-1 on the road at Rupert Wednesday afternoon.
Margii Driscoll, last season's Great Basin Player of the Year, scored four goals as the Wolverines (1-0-1) captured their first Great Basin Conference victory of the season.
Freshman Aimee Evans and junior Calley Brown picked up the other goals.
