Wednesday, September 21, 2005

League soccer a tough road for small schools

Cutthroats fall to Bliss 3-2, beat Beavers 3-1


Anybody can win, any day.

That's the story of the Fourth District 3A boys' varsity soccer league this season. Six teams are battling for the slightest advantage, so it's coming down to which team is best prepared on a certain day.

"In years past we've had our way," said coach Richard Whitelaw of perennial boys' soccer power The Community School of Sun Valley. "But this league is so tight right now that every game means something."

Last week The Community School lost a tough 3-0 road game to defending league tournament champ Buhl, then the Cutthroats turned around Friday and dropped a rare home game 3-2 to the Bliss Bears in the 2005 Browning Field debut.

Alden Remington and Travis Stone punched home first-half goals giving the Cutthroats a 2-0 lead, but Bliss (3-0-1) built its confidence by equalizing 2-2 with two goals in the final five minutes of the first half and snuck home an early goal after half to win a big league contest 3-2.

"Men of the Match," were Remington and Ross Campbell.

"We played well—I can't fault the determination—but we couldn't finish," said Whitelaw. "Fortunately the determination carried over to Saturday and we deserved our win against American Falls."

The Cutthroats (3-4, 2-2 league) rebounded Saturday and beat the American Falls Beavers 3-1 in a non-conference home contest.

Stone scored in the first half for a 1-0 lead. The game-tying goal by the Beavers early in the second half was disallowed because the visitors had too many players on the field. Then Wes Flanigan made it 2-0 and Stone added his second goal near the end.

Whitelaw said about his "Man of the Match" for the game, "Travis was everywhere." He also credited Remington, sweeper Ryon Campbell, stopper Alex Conn and Flanigan, who created two good goals, for solid performances on the home pitch.

The Cutthroats played last year's tournament runner-up Wendell (3-1-1) Tuesday, then have a home rematch with Declo today, Wednesday. The Cutthroats handled Declo 6-1 Sept. 2, but the Hornets (3-3-1) have come a long way since including a 2-0 loss to Minico at Paul Saturday.

Saturday the Cutthroats go to 5A Twin Falls (3-3), a 3-1 loser to Burley Monday.

Beavers handle Cutthroat girls

Saturday's home opener for The Community School girls' varsity soccer team started out well, with the Cutthroats holding the two-time defending State 3A champion American Falls Beavers to a 1-0 lead.

But the Beavers exploded for three goals in the second half and escaped with a 4-0 non-conference victory at Sagewillow Farms.

Cutthroat coach Kelly Feldman said, "We couldn't do anything right in the second half, but American Falls is a good, solid team. It was a good game for us to have at this point of the season because it shows us where we are."

The Cutthroats (2-3 overall, 2-0 league) tried to extend their league dominance with a game at Wendell (0-3-1, 0-2) Tuesday, but the Declo Hornets will provide a tough league test today, Wednesday at Sagewillow. Declo recently beat Wendell 7-1 and lost to Minico 3-0.

And on Saturday, 5A Twin Falls (3-3-1) arrives for an 11 a.m. non-league test. Twin Falls defeated Burley 4-0 Monday.




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