Often they're still snowbound and just done with skiing in the hills, so it's tough for Sawtooth United F.C. youth soccer teams to perform well in the season-opening Portneuf Valley Classic in Pocatello.
But SUFC broke the mold last weekend and posted the program's best-ever finish in the Portneuf meet. Out of 12 age-class teams competing, one captured its championship and one other made the final game.
The U14 boys coached by Aaron Thompson went 4-0 in their round-robin division and beat the Twin Falls Rapids 2-0 in the final game. Man of the Weekend Tanner Flanigan scored both goals against Twin and ended up with seven goals.
SUFC beat PVSC Pumas 3-1 on a Flanigan hat trick, beat Idaho Falls Extreme 2-1 on goals by Flanigan and Cruz and also won 3-1 over Idaho Falls Ballistic on goals by Flanigan, Bates and Stearns.
Making its championship game with a 2-1 record and then finishing second with a 5-0 loss to Extreme Boyce was the U14 Girls Navy squad coached by Jessica Kolkmann.
Perhaps the most exciting game was a scoreless regulation tie that SUFC eventually won in a shootout. Goalkeeper Ellen Davis saved two shots. Shooters were Nellie Brown, Dylan Peterson, Daniella Stokes, Hannah Lynch and Tanner Dredge. SUFC also beat Extreme Dragons 4-1 on goals by Davis, Kayla Cloud, Jess Martins and Emma Wilander.
Meanwhile the U18 boys went 2-1 and narrowly missed a championship game berth.
The team's passing and dribbling skills improved after an opening-round loss to Ballistic. SUFC then beat Extreme and the PVSC Stallions. Big scorers were Wes Flanigan and Taylor Sundali. Austin McCann and Garrett Leo moved the ball well, while Bryce Newcomb and Ken Mauro excelled on defense.
Next tournament for SUFC teams is the Idaho Falls Shootout May 6-7. Other results from the Portneuf Valley meet:
Other girls results
U18 girls (1-2): SUFC won 5-0 over Pocatello; lost 3-2 to Bulldogs and 5-4 to Selma. Great hustle, team effort and strong leadership all weekend from Margii Driscoll, Kacie Femling, Kaitlin Gasenica and Danielle Smith.
U16 girls (2-1): SUFC won 5-0 over Twin Falls Rapids (Man of Match Aimee Evans, goals by Evans 3 and Elsa Sweek 2); won 3-0 over Idaho Falls Odyssey (Man of Match Elsa Sweek, goals by Sweek 2 and Hannah Hennessy 1); lost 2-1 to Missoula (Mt.) Strikers (Man of Match goalie Caiti Leo with 18 saves).
U14 Girls Gold (0-2): Lost 4-0 to Helena (Mt.) Arsenal (Man of Match Aly Ward); lost 5-0 to Magic White (Man of Match Grace Logodich).
U12 Girls Gold (0-2-1): Lost 4-0 to Utah Avalanche (Man of Match Megan Morrell); lost 2-0 to BCSD Lily 2 (Man of Match Kaitana Martinez); won shootout 4-3 after a 0-0 regulation tie against Pocatello (Man of Match Nicole Roos, shootout goals by Gabi Perenchio, Megan Morell, Alison Gasenica and Nicole Roos, and goalie Sloan Storey made 1 big save).
U12 Girls Navy (0-3): Player of the Match in losses to Twin Falls, PVSC White and Idaho Falls Dynamites were Emily Sonneland, Frannie Sensenbrenner and Maddie Bates.
Other boys results
U16 Boys (0-4): Losses to PVFC United 4-1, to Extreme 5-0, to Ballistic 5-1 and to Twin Falls Rapids 5-1. Goals by Connor Brown and Austin Grill (2). Men of the Matches were Travis Stone, Hank Mason and Colter Brehmer.
U13 Boys (1-2): Juan Castro and Harlan Collins scored in a 2-0 victory over Bozeman (Mt.) Blitzz. Men of the Matches in 3-0 losses to Helena Arsenal and Idaho Falls Extreme were Harlan Collins, Charlie Evans and Cody Levitan.
U12 Boys Navy (1-2): SUFC opened with a 2-0 shutout of Idaho Falls Dragons as Cole Caulkins and Ryan Buell (assist Adam Brown) scored goals. Goalie Dylan Carey had the shutout. Twin Falls Rapids downed SUFC 3-0, then the U12s went to a penalty kick shootout with Jackson Hole Extreme. Calder Zarkos scored after a Drew Punnett corner kick to equalize 1-1 after regulation. Jackson prevailed 3-0. Other solid players were Adam Potts, Ben Stout, Colin Waycott, Ketchum Wilt, Reed Matthews, Quinn Matthews, Drew Barsch, Charlie Harder, Ben Kanellitsas, Ty Reinemann, Josh Morell and Jon Paris.
U12 Boys Gold (0-3): Good attitudes and great parent support in 3-0, 2-0 and 2-0 losses to Jackson (Wyo.) Extreme, Helena Arsenal and Pumas. SUFC outshot Pumas and played them evenly over the game.
