Young players, two of them scoring their first varsity goals, were the difference Monday for The Community School girls' soccer team in a 7-1 High Desert Soccer Conference triumph over Gooding, at Elkhorn.
Later, The Community School and Gooding boys staged a rousing battle on the Browning Field turf and emerged with a 1-1 tie that was appropriate for the kind of hard-fought play on both sides.
The outcomes on another gorgeous late-summer day in Sun Valley put a period on a busy week with four Cutthroat games in six days. Coaches Kelly Feldman and Richard Whitelaw were glad for a breather, if only for a few days.
Next: The Cutthroat teams visit Bliss Friday, Sept. 12 and host Declo Monday, Sept. 15 at 5 p.m. They travel to Filer on Wednesday, Sept. 17 and host Twin Falls Sept. 19.
Freshmen lead Sun Valley
The Cutthroat girls snapped a three-game winless streak and swept the season series with their opponents with a 7-1 victory over the visiting Senators Monday afternoon on the Sagewillow Farms pitch.
Gooding's Anabel Romero slipped behind the Cutthroat defense and scored six minutes into the game, but it was all Sun Valley from then on, starting with a left-footed goal by freshman Teagen Palmer (8 goals season) at 20 minutes.
Freshman Hailey Rheinschild stormed down the left wing and fired home the eventual game winner at 22 minutes, then Palmer made a beautiful cross that freshman Gabi Perenchio stuffed home for her first varsity goal and a 3-1 lead.
It was the first of three goals for Perenchio, who converted a Emma Wilander corner kick and drilled a tough-angle 28-yarder in the second half. Josie Bunce, another freshman, and sophomore Freya Dickey also scored goals for the Cutthroats (3-4-1, 3-1-1 league).
Boys settle for 1-1 draw
The Community School boys (2-4-2, 2-2-1 league) sought to end the school's longest losing streak in 15 years Monday against Gooding. Whitelaw's Cutthroats hadn't lost three straight since 1993, then to Twin Falls, Bliss and Blackfoot.
Monday's game didn't stop the winless streak, but it wasn't for lack of effort. The Cutthroats, passing very crisply in the first half, just couldn't finish except for a one-timer by Tanner Flanigan (7 goals season) at the 10-minute mark.
Certainly the star of the game, and Whitelaw's "Man of the Match," was freshman goalkeeper Tom Crosby (11 saves, 8 second half). Crosby stopped everything that the speedy Senator attackers threw at him, except for an Andres Valdez goal in the 64th minute.
After Valdez equalized, Gooding coach Roger Johnson dropped lightning-quick striker Danny Lopez back to sweeper in an effort to stop any Flanigan attacks—and it worked. But Jackson Bates nearly scored the winner on two occasions in the closing minutes.
Gooding (6-3 corner kicks) out-shot the Cutthroats 20-17 for the game, and 13-7 in the second half. Unfortunately, Cutthroat junior Bob Mollineaux broke his ankle, the same fractured growth plate injury suffered recently by junior teammate Wyatt Bunce.
The week's action left the Cutthroats on the outside, looking in at league-leading Wendell (4-0-1) and Buhl (2-0-2). Wendell and Buhl tied 1-1 Monday in a big High Desert clash. Gooding left Ketchum 1-2-2.
Last Thursday on their home fields, the Cutthroat boys fell 3-1 to Buhl despite a goal by Flanigan and outstanding play by "Man of the Match" Tyler Davis. And the league-leading Buhl girls (4-0-0, 4-0-0 league) blanked the Cutthroats 3-0.
