Blazing hot with her nose for the net, Wood River High School sophomore Tanner Dredge struck for four goals Saturday in her team's 10-0 non-league win over The Community School on the Sagewillow Farms pitch in Elkhorn.
Senior midfielder Aimee Evans (7 goals season, 58 career) recorded her second straight three-goal hat trick for coach Greg Gvozdas' #4-ranked Wolverines (4-1-0, 1-0-0 league, outscoring opponents 27-3).
Dredge (11 goals in her last 3 games) scored twice in each half as 4A Wood River's depth and athleticism overwhelmed the 3A Cutthroats with a 30-5 advantage in shots. It was 5-0 at half and 10-0 at the final.
Sophomore Taylor Hayes added a single goal for a third straight game. Senior defender Sam Johnson and senior forward Elsa Sweek had their first goals. Sophomore goalkeeper Madison Gove (4 saves) played most of the game, spelled briefly by Cheyenne Swanson.
Johnson's long, lead pass sent Dredge in alone for the first goal at six minutes. Evans carried the ball through the Cutthroat defense and drilled her first goal at nine minutes.
Dredge converted a loose ball in the box at 16 minutes and Johnson nailed a long direct kick at 18 minutes. Evans cut across the field for another great individual effort and top corner rocket at 29 minutes.
Evans boomed her hat trick just under the crossbar three minutes into the 40-minute second half. Dredge scored from 16 yards at 47 minutes and split two defenders at 50 minutes.
Hayes controlled a perfect lead pass from Halsey Pierce and stuck home another goal at 59 minutes. At 70 minutes, Sweek made no mistake on an Ali Appleton cross.
Busy at the back were Cutthroat goalkeepers Josie Bunce (10 saves) and Chelsea Cloud (5 saves). Hitting the crossbar, no good, with their penalty shot attempts were Teagen Palmer of The Community School and senior Laura Elgee of Hailey.
It was Wood River's sixth consecutive victory over the Cutthroat girls by a 27-3 margin including four shutouts in that span. Wood River is dominant in the 23 girls' soccer meetings between the two schools since 1993. The Wolverines now have a 15-3-5 advantage and have outscored the Cutthroats 77-22.
Wood River, winners of three straight, continued its Great Basin West schedule Tuesday at Jerome (0-4-1, 0-0-1 league). The Tigers, outscored 37-6, have had a rough start, falling to Twin Falls 9-0, to Pocatello 7-1, Middleton 8-1 and to Hillcrest 12-3. They've tied Burley 1-1. Wood River is 10-0 in the series with Jerome dating to 2004 with nine shutouts.
On Saturday, Wood River travels to McCall for games with the 3A Vandals and 4A Moscow Bears. The Burley Bobcats visit Hailey next Tuesday for a Great Basin game.
The Community School defense had trouble matching the speed of Wood River senior defender Sam Johnson, shown here dribbling past Hailey Rheinschild (left) and Freya Dickey (right) in Saturday’s Sagewillow Farms non-league game won by Wood River 10-0.
Photo by Willy Cook
