Margii Driscoll scored two goals in the second half and the Wolverines held off a spirited Hillcrest comeback to prevail 4-2 Thursday and advance to the semifinals of the girls' State 4A soccer tournament in Boise.
Today, Wood River (15-3-2) faces northern Idaho champion Lakeland (14-4-1), which blanked Mountain Home 5-0 on Thursday.
Thursday's victory was anything but easy for Wood River, which built a 3-0 lead only to see Hillcrest rally in the second half. The Knights out-shot Wood River 12-11 in the second half and closed its deficit to 3-2 on goals by Shae Goff and a header by Angela Corry with 17 minutes left in the game.
Wood River head coach Greg Gvozdas said he was "relieved" to escape with the win.
"At the beginning of the second half Hillcrest put us on our heels," Gvozdas said. "We lost a lot of 50-50 balls and missed too many quality shots and too many quality chances and that put pressure on our defense.
"I'm glad Margii finally sealed it for us with that final goal."
Drcisoll's game sealing second goal came with one minute left in the game.
Wood River looked like the dominant team in the first half, out-shooting Hillcrest 8-3. The Wolverine's Sam Johnson scored on a rebound off a Driscoll shot three minutes into the game, and Alexa Turzian scored just before the break on a Driscoll assist. One minute into the second half, Driscoll scored her first goal.
Wood River junior goalie Ellen Ard made 11 saves in the game, eight of them in the second half. She was starting her first game in goal this season in place of Caiti Leo, who had an appendicitis on Monday.
As for Friday's match-up with Lakeland, Gvozdas said, "You've got to play the best to be the best."
The other semifinal game will feature Pocatello, which beat Emmett 3-1, and Century, which beat defending state champ Sandpoint 1-0.
Wood River's Calley Brown in regular season action in September. Photo by David N. Seelig
