Wednesday, August 22, 2007

Taste of state success drives Cutthroat boys

Strikers Stone, Flanigan spark the attack


By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer

There will be a couple of intriguing story lines to follow this fall as The Community School boys' varsity soccer team takes aim on a trip to the State 3A tournament in Buhl.

First of all, there is the development of the team during the 14-game season that debuts Tuesday, Aug. 28 at Filer and comes home for the first time Aug. 30 with a Browning Field home game against Gooding.

"We have strong team spirit and there's just a lot of good feeling this year," said head coach Richard Whitelaw, entering his 16th season at the helm with a 176-70-19 career record and an outstanding 19-12 mark during state tournament play.

The Community School is unique among Idaho schools in that soccer and academics were the foundation of the independent school when it started in Ketchum over 30 years ago. Whitelaw and his assistants Bob Brock and Jason Lynch have ably carried on the torch.

So, can the Cutthroats finish the job in 2007? They came very close last fall, posting an outstanding 17-3-1 record (11-1-1 home) and winning the consolation championship of the State 3A tournament. They lost their state opener 4-3 to eventual third-place McCall-Donnelly and then beat Weiser 3-1 and Bonners Ferry 3-2.

Whitelaw said, "Memories of the game against McCall will linger. But we had a good experience last year. Most of the players are back, a year older and wiser. So far, so good. Our only area of concern is depth."

First things first, so The Community School will first attempt to reclaim the High Desert Soccer Conference title that eventual state runner-up Bliss won 2-1 over the Cutthroats in 2006. Bliss (16-1-1) only lost once last fall, to first-time winner Teton (12-3-6) by a 2-1 score in the State 3A championship contest in Boise.

Among those graduating from Bliss' best ever soccer team were leading scorer Eli Gough (43 of the 120 Bliss goals last fall) and inspirational goalkeeper Michael Faulkner.

"Bliss will be all right this year, hopefully not as strong," said Whitelaw. "Gooding could be okay and both Buhl and Declo are young. I'd like to think we're the team to beat."

That brings up the second intriguing story line for the Cutthroats—the scoring pursuit of senior striker Travis Stone, who was the team's state tournament (7 goals in 3 games) and season Most Valuable Player (38 goals) in 2006.

Stone (7 goals freshman, 14 sophomore, 38 junior) has 59 goals in 50 starts over three years. He has a chance of overtaking Josh Stanek (94 career goals) as the school's all-time top scorer. Stone will likely pass Sean Higgins (76) and Benji Hill (75) in September.

You wouldn't know by his demeanor that Stone is such a scoring threat. Whitelaw said, "He never says how many goals he has. Travis is such a good kid, a really pleasant guy. The team comes first for him.

"But Travis needs 35 goals to equal Stanek, and he looks real strong this year."

Stone isn't the only threat. Sophomore Tanner Flanigan (13 goals) had a promising start to his varsity soccer career last fall and there are good things to come. "We should be all right if we get the ball to Travis and Tanner," said Whitelaw.

Replacing stalwarts like goalkeeper Regan O'Reilly, defender Ryon Campbell and midfielders Alden Remington and Caleb Sonneland won't be easy, the coach said. But kids grow and mature in school and produce pleasant surprises.

One example is 6-5 basketball star/soccer defender Mac Whittington. His maturity has posed a big dilemma for Whitelaw—that is, where to play the big guy? Whitelaw said, "Mac has really come into his body and is excited about soccer. He was the quickest in our 40-yard sprints."

Seniors in the all-important center midfield position are Connor Brown and Max Harris. Those two, along with fellow seniors Stone and Whittington, will "lead by example and form the nucleus through the middle of the field," Whitelaw said.

Juniors include third-year starting sweeper Alex Conn, Peter Atkinson and two goalkeepers—returning Cutthroat player Riley Berman and German exchange student Eugene Zak, a native Ukrainian who is also a talented pianist. "It's good to have Riley back and Eugene is a welcome addition to the team," said Whitelaw.

Besides Flanigan, the strong sophomore class features left back/MF Jackson Bates, right back/MF Bergen Palmer and MF Wyatt Bunce. There are seven freshmen among the 28 varsity and junior varsity players including emerging talent John Chrysikopoulos.

Other players on varsity include seniors Wiley Chubb, Jeff Gaecke and Rafael Pena; juniors Eddy Albarran, Lucas Vorsteveld, Taylor Riviello and Reed Stokes; and sophomore Tyler Davis.

"Hopefully we'll play good and attractive soccer like we usually do, not get on each other's case and not get complacent," said Whitelaw.

One of the two non-conference games for the Cutthroats this fall will be Saturday, Sept. 22 in Hailey against the 4A Wood River Wolverines.

Stone scored one of his six three-goal hat tricks against Wood River last year in the 5-1 Cutthroat home win. But the match-up should be much closer this time around.

Wood River leads the 23-season, 53-game rivalry 31-19-3 including an 18-4-2 edge on the Hailey pitch. It's always competitive, but mainly Whitelaw views the rivalry as a terrific example of how far soccer has come in the Wood River Valley.




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