You can only squeeze so much sweetness out of a soccer shootout.
Two dramatic penalty kick shootout victories weren't enough to carry the defending champion Laurent Perrier women of Ketchum into the championship game of last weekend's 25th annual Laurent Perrier women's soccer tournament at Atkinson Park.
Because of the tiebreaking formula of the round-robin meet, Sunday's title game of the two-day, four-team tournament ended up to be a match-up of Boise teams TTM and Contenders. And TTM carried home the title 3-1 in the afternoon finale.
Laurent Perrier, captained by Siobhan Sutton and Casey Mills, had a great Saturday with 4-4 (4-2) and 2-2 (3-1) penalty kick shootout wins over Boise Contenders and Jackson Hole/Park City. But Boise TTM upended LP 4-1 Sunday.
That put an end to the 2006 quest of Laurent Perrier, which has played eight games in its own tournament the past two years and five of those contests have ended up in shootouts.
But the local women gave their fans some thrills, led by the scoring of former University of New Hampshire college soccer star Farrell Swain. Of Laurent Perrier's 14 goals including the PKs, Swain scored 5 goals and Mills contributed another 3 goals for Ketchum.
Against Boise Contenders Saturday, LP trailed 2-1 at the half but Swain equalized with her second goal. Joslyn Dollar made it 3-2 in favor of the Ketchum squad. The Contenders stormed back with two more goals for a 4-3 lead.
With five minutes left, Mills took a cross from Jill Werneg and sent the decision into a shootout with a clutch game-tying goal. Laurent Perrier won the five-player shootout 4-2 on scores by Summer Chaldu, Swain, Margo Ros and Werneg.
Another cliffhanger took place Saturday afternoon when Laurent Perrier clashed with a combined Jackson Hole/Park City team. Mills provided a 1-0 Ketchum halftime lead, assisted by Swain. Jackson Hole's Lorin Tedeschi scored on a header for a 1-1 tie after half.
Swain continued her strong play up front with an excellent individual effort in the box and Laurent Perrier led 2-1. But Tedeschi equalized at 2-2 with a floating 30-yard shot, then she took the responsibility of being Jackson Hole/Park City's goalkeeper in the shootout after regulation play.
Because of time limitations, it was only a three-player shootout.
Once again, Summer Chaldu gave Laurent Perrier a boost by making the first PK. Patty Daniels succeeded for Jackson Hole/Park City, then Werneg ripped a shot that keeper Tedeschi got her hand on but the ball went in, 2-1 LP. Ketchum keeper Kristin Cheatwood made a clutch stop, then Casey Mills pounded the game winner into the corner.
The only bummer about the shootouts was they counted for only three points in the tiebreaker format, compared to five points for a clean win. Boise TTM amassed 10 points Saturday for two clean regulation wins, 3-2 over Jackson Hole/Park City and 4-3 over Boise Contenders.
After Day One, Boise TTM had 12 points, Laurent Perrier 7, Boise Contenders 4 and Jackson Hole/Park City 2. So, the Sunday morning games became crucial to advancing into the championship game.
Boise TTM as it turned out had too much size and athleticism for Laurent Perrier. The eventual champions came away with a 4-1 victory.
The Ketchum women had a couple of good early chances by Jenni Conrad and Sutton, but it was Boise scoring first and last—both on long kicks off the foot of Jessica Lapour. Shauna Hull and Walker Loseno also scored helping Boise TTM to a 3-1 halftime lead. Swain accounted for LP's only goal.
Meanwhile, Boise Contenders routed Jackson Hole/Park City 7-1 to earn six points and scoot past Laurent Perrier into the title game.
Laurent Perrier's tough defense led by Sutton, Margo Ros, Ashley Brown and Lynn Chaldu shouldered a heavy load because of the team's shuttle system of goalkeepers. The LP coach was Leandro Stassi.
Laurent Perrier?s Summer Chaldu looks ahead to make the pass, as teammate Farrell Swain (left) follows the action. Photo by Willy Cook
