The post-season is where all the hard work and dedication spent during the season either comes to fruition or turns out to be fruitless, and three area soccer teams hope to pluck the fruits of their labor in this week's state tournaments.
The Wood River Valley is sending three of its four varsity soccer teams to state. The Wood River girls (10-4-1) will play in the 4A State Soccer Tournament, Oct. 18-20 at Bannock County Fairgrounds in Pocatello. Participating in the 3A State Tournament at Buhl High School, are the undefeated Community School boys (15-0-1) and nearly-unbeaten Cutthroat girls (16-1-0).
All three teams claimed their respective district championships and have scored in droves against league competition this season, against which they were all unbeaten. The overriding question facing all three is: can you elevate your game enough to be successful on the state stage?
The answer from the three coaches, all of whom have experienced varying degrees of success and heartbreak at state, is a cautious, but firm, yes.
Community School boys' coach Richard Whitelaw remarked, "The boys are playing well and they should be confident. We've been down this road before and they need to go play their game and see what happens."
Wood River's Greg Gvozdas said, "Our big players have to play well in big games. This coming week is a great opportunity for that. You have to make the best of the opportunity when you are there."
Cutthroat girls' coach Kelly Feldman recognizes the psychological hurdle her team must overcome to go further than a best-ever third place in 2003.
"I think for us it's mental challenge more than the physical. Historically, we don't get challenged enough during the regular season to get the mental toughness necessary to get through a 1-0 or 2-0 game at state. That's the hard part of it."
To grab the brass ring at state, a team must win three games and luck, preparation and skill can all play equal parts in the six respective eight-team draws in the 5A, 4A and 3A classifications.
Wood River will meet the Hillcrest Knights (15-1-1) in the opening round, a team they lost to 4-0 back on August 25.
"We are much different then we were then," Gvozdas noted. "When we played in August we only had 13 healthy girls. Delaney (Fox) and Elsa (Sweek) are now healthy. We moved Sam (Johnson) up front and Jazz (Campbell) and Makayla (Cappel) in the middle. Plus, (freshman goalie) Madison Gove now has a whole season of experience."
District 6 champion Hillcrest, runner-up to Century by a 1-0 score in the 2006 state final, is on a 13-game winning streak and scored 97 goals to their opponents 14. Their lone loss of the season was 3-2 to 5A Skyline in the opening game of the season.
As most veteran coaches would, Gvozdas prefers to keep the focus on his team and its abilities (66 goals for/20 against/7 shutouts), and not worry about what Hillcrest can do or has done, although he does allow he does have film of the teams' previous meeting and has seen it "more than once."
"There's a couple of players we will make a mental note of, but we need the focus to stay on us and not change for an opponent. We are doing a lot of things well as a team," he said.
"Realistically, I think the goal is to be better in October than you were in August and we have a clear opportunity to accomplish that goal."
Making their eighth trip to state in nine years, Whitelaw's Cutthroats have scored 77 goals, allowed 16 and posted six shutouts, although will be playing without junior goalkeeper Riley Berman who broke three ribs against Wendell on October 9. The onus will be on the Cutthroats back four of Alex Conn, Mac Whittington, Tyler Davis and Jackson Bates to protect Eugene Zak in the net, who steps in for Berman with one start under his belt.
The High Desert champion Cutthroats duel Orofino (8-5) in the opening round on Thursday, and while the Maniacs don't seem imposing on paper (36 goals for/31 against), Whitelaw (19-12 at state) knows it doesn't always translate that way in the flesh.
"The good teams make it to state and there's no easy games once you get there," he said. "Anyone can win."
Orofino's last appearance at state was in 2004, the only year the Cutthroats have not played at state in the last nine.
Whitelaw (19-12 at state) has guided his teams to two state championships, the most recent in 1999 at Idaho Falls.
Of the Buhl venue, Whitelaw said with his characteristic sense of humor, "We won the consolation there, we placed third and we were beaten in the finals. There's only two more avenues we can go."
Kelly Feldman's High Desert champion Cutthroat girls have reveled in a torrid scoring pace this season with 102 goals to their opponents 6. Goalie Kathryn Farmer has recorded 14 shutouts, and the team is the top rated 3A squad in the state according to the IdahoSports.com Power Rankings.
The Community School opens up against the Shelley Russets (13-4-3) who boasts 74 goals for and 27 against with six shutouts. The Russets are the fourth-ranked team by IdahoSports.
The teams met in the second round of the 3A state tilt in 2006 at Meridian, with the Russets posting a 3-1 victory over the 'Throats.
Community School sophomore Nellie Brown is one of 11 underclassmen who will appear in the State 3A Soccer Tournament for the Cutthroats.
