In the grand scheme of things, Saturday's Community School-Wood River boys' soccer clash in Hailey was all about bragging rights, which is essentially what former Cutthroat scoring star Sean Higgins told the current Sun Valley team in a memorable motivational talk at halftime.
The two Blaine County schools, boasting one of the longest and best soccer rivalries in the entire Gem State, don't play in the same conference anymore so there aren't any post-season implications when they clash once a year.
Whoever wins or loses is all about bragging and reminiscing with your friends and a few refreshments five or six years down the line. That was the gist of the Higgins halftime spiel.
He was right, of course, but there were more immediate concerns for The Community School and Wood River Saturday before 600 soccer-crazed fans at South Valley Sports Complex soccer field.
For the favored Cutthroats, it was all about maintaining an unbeaten season and taking it into the state tournament. For the upset-minded Wolverines, it was all about breaking through with a big win and riding the momentum into its state-qualifying playoffs.
For the spectators, the result was a scintillating showcase of soccer, 80 minutes of all-out physical play that made everybody a winner. But only one team celebrated at the finish.
The Higgins pep talk primed the Sun Valley pump because the still-unbeaten Cutthroats broke away from a thrilling 1-1 halftime deadlock and nipped the host Wolverines 3-1.
Doing the deed for the visiting Cutthroats was simply slipping through the tiny cracks of a brilliant Wood River defensive effort. They did it twice after the half due to the double-barreled threat of their strikers Travis Stone and Tanner Flanigan and a team effort.
Always at his best against Wood River, Stone (22 goals season, 81 career) scored twice for his ninth multi-goal scoring game in 11 games this season.
He scored the first goal and insurance goal. Scoring the eventual winner was sophomore sweeper Alex Conn with a 25-yard free kick rocket that lifted coach Richard Whitelaw airborne on the sideline.
Whitelaw said, "We'll be talking about Alex's goal for the rest of the year. But what an exciting game it was! We had been worrying about
Wood River and they certainly dominated the midfield. We haven't seen that kind of pressure all year. But collectively we did a good job."
Ranked first in the Idaho 3A boys' soccer poll, The Community School (11-0-0, 9-0-0 league, 57-9 goals-against) still has three regular-season games remaining plus possibly two High Desert Soccer Conference playoff contests before the State 3A tournament Oct. 18-20 in Buhl. Last year's State 3A consolation winners, the Cutthroats could be undefeated entering the 2007 state meet.
But it was Wood River seizing the initiative early in Saturday's "Senior Night" home finale. Winners of only eight games over the last two seasons and still finding itself midway through 2007, Wood River was sparked by the relentless defense of junior sweeper Kyler VanDyck. Flying around, he must have had 20 good touches.
As Whitelaw said, "Wood River neutralized Travis for long periods of the game."
Wood River assistant coach Trey Knox said, "Our defense was tight and together. They played great, everywhere on the field, and we controlled most of the game."
With junior David Dredge marking Cutthroat sophomore sniper Tanner Flanigan and Hailey defenders Spencer Fullmer and Cody Phelps tracking Stone everywhere, Wood River out-shot the Cutthroats 12-4 in the first half.
Senior midfielder Ross Parsons cranked up shot-after-shot and sophomore Austin Cruz applied pressure up front.
Cutthroat junior goalkeeper Riley Berman (10 saves), later named Whitelaw's "Man of the Match," fisted away a hard Morgan Pike line drive at 19 minutes and Parsons seriously challenged him twice more. Senior Erwin Roman finally broke through for Wood River. He came from the left wing and hammered home a 19-yard shot for a 1-0 lead at 31 minutes.
Overmatched by a hungry underdog, the Cutthroats were just barely hanging on when the Wolverines barreled into the box again—Berman making the first stop and defender Conn saving the day by kicking out a potential rebound. Minutes ticked away with Stone and Flanigan barely heard from and the score still 1-0.
But just before half, Cutthroat senior Jeff Gaecke rectified that oversight. Playing aggressively, he dislodged the ball just outside the box. Flanigan was right there to pick it up. He quickly crossed, Stone heading the ball home for the 1-1 equalizer. The bang-bang play made a world of difference.
"Jeff won the ball and we scored right on half," said Whitelaw. "It gave us the impetus. We were right back in it."
Indeed they were, the Cutthroat defense of Conn, Mac Whittington, Jackson Bates, Tyler Davis and Bergen Palmer pulling together tighter and tighter as the game went along.
Suddenly the Cutthroats started getting better looks on Wood River sophomore keeper Colter Brehmer (8 of his 12 saves after half).
Brehmer got his hand on a long ball from Conn and stopped Connor Brown right after, at 19 minutes. With Davis starting the play in the back, Brown served to Stone, who blasted one high at 20 minutes.
Wood River (5 corner kicks second half, 8-4 edge for the game) got caught upfield on a corner kick and the Cutthroat strikers broke downfield the other way—yellow-carded Cody Phelps needing to haul down Flanigan to prevent a breakaway. Conn stepped up for the direct kick, tempered his usual booming boot and nailed a 25-yarder high into the net.
That happened at 65 minutes and some of the air went out of Wood River, suddenly down 2-1.
Two minutes later crafty Connor Brown found a seam in the defense with a pass ahead to Flanigan, who served to Stone for a tap into the corner and the 3-1 final. A diving Brehmer save on Stone at the end prevented a 4-1 outcome.
Coach Knox said, "They had two breakaways in the second half and that was it. We had our chances and opportunities and couldn't finish and they did. But our team, with the game we played today, would have beaten everyone in our conference. Hopefully we can get it going all the way to state."
The Cutthroats won for only the fifth time in the 25 boys' varsity soccer games played between the two schools in Hailey over the 24-season series, and they increased their goal-scoring advantage over Wood River teams to 113-108.
Thursday at Buhl, Flanigan and Brown each scored two goals as the Cutthroat boys blanked Buhl (1-11-0, 0-10-0) by a 4-0 score. "Man of the Match" was defender Tyler Davis. The Cutthroats next host Declo Saturday, Sept. 29 at 1 p.m. at Browning Field in Elkhorn.
Be sure to check next week's Local Life for more photos from Saturday's great boys' game.
Wood River?s Axel Peterson (left) looks upfield, chased by Tanner Flanigan. Photo by Willy Cook
