It wasn't exactly the result that coach Greg Gvozdas wanted, but the Wood River High School girls' varsity soccer team hung on for a 2-2 draw with the Hillcrest Knights Saturday in the 2006 home opener on the Hailey soccer field.
And for the first time in three games, Wood River looked like it dearly missed the scoring of two-time Great Basin Conference West "Player of the Year" Margii Driscoll, who netted 43 goals in 22 games last year, and 81 for her career.
Driscoll scored a pair of goals during Wood River's 4-2 win over Hillcrest in the opening game of the State 4A tournament in Meridian last October. She was the difference then, and the Wolverines missed her ability to create and extend leads against legitimate 4A competition Saturday.
Hillcrest (1-0-2) was a quick, physical team that forced the action in the early going, but Wood River counterattacked twice and made the most of each opportunity. The Wolverines scored twice in the first eight minutes and didn't score at all for the final 72 minutes.
Sophomore Aimee Evans created both early goals—first with a cross to junior forward Hannah Fuller, who fought off two defenders and poked her first-ever varsity goal home at five minutes. Then Evans outraced the Knights along the right wing and centered a ball that Fuller redirected into the Hillcrest net for a 2-0 lead.
Wood River's quickness and passing ability kept Hillcrest off its game for the rest of the first half. The resilient Knights made adjustments, however, and stormed back with two clutch goals in the final 15 minutes of the second half.
Caitlin Walline, assisted by Leigh Gardner, made it 2-1 in the 65th minute. Chloe Ence, from Shae Goff, equalized at 2-2 in the 72nd minute.
The result sent Wood River back to the drawing board with the biggest game of the young season coming up Thursday, Aug. 31 on South Valley Sports Complex soccer field in Hailey, starting at 4:30 p.m.
Century's top-ranked Diamondbacks, last year's State 4A champion with an 20-0-2 record that included three victories in three games over Wood River, started the 2006 season quickly with a 3-0 record including 7-0, 17-0 and 3-0 wins over Blackfoot, Jerome and Highland of Pocatello. Century visited Hillcrest Tuesday in Idaho Falls.
Wood River is 18-1-2 at home over three seasons, falling only to Century 3-2 last Sept. 14.
