Friday, October 3, 2008

Hailey soccer teams settle for draws

Wolverines, Knights wage 1-1, 2-2 games


The taste of tie games in soccer can be sweet or a little sour—and Wood River High School soccer teams sampled both on Tuesday.

In Hailey, the highly regarded Wolverine girls settled for a 1-1 tie with one of Idaho's better teams, Hillcrest of Idaho Falls. Wood River out-shot Hillcrest 27-12 and 9-1 in corner kicks but had trouble finishing against a hot goalkeeper, Knights junior Taylor Hansen (15 saves, several brilliant).

"We had plenty of chances, but at this point of the season you've got to finish," said coach Greg Gvozdas. "If state is what the girls are after, they have to prove it against good teams."

Nevertheless the 4A top-ranked Hailey girls (11-1-1) kept their 11-game unbeaten streak intact against #3 Hillcrest (10-2-1), which hasn't lost in eight consecutive games.

In Idaho Falls, the Wood River boys had a sweeter feeling when junior Austin Cruz scored in the 79th minute, enabling the Wolverines to tie Hillcrest 2-2. "Not pretty, but better than a loss at this point," said coach Matt Phillips.

Coming up: The Wood River girls visit Burley Saturday, Oct. 4 for their final regular-season game and a preview of a first-round match-up in the league tourney starting Oct. 9.

Burley (0-13-1, 0-4-1) has been outscored 59-8 this season including a 2-0 home loss to Minico (3-13-1, 2-4-0) Tuesday.

Thursday, the top-seeded Wolverine girls had their "Senior Night" against #2-seeded Jerome (3-10-1, 3-1-1), a 5-0 loser at Twin Falls Tuesday. Jerome will play #3 Minico in the opening tournament round.

And the Hailey boys (7-5-1, 2-2-0 league), unbeaten in the last five, played at 4A top-ranked Jerome (13-0-1, 5-0-0) Thursday and have their "Senior Night" home finale Saturday, Oct. 4 at 11 a.m. against Burley (7-6-1, 1-4-0). Jerome walloped Twin Falls 7-1 and Minico nipped Burley 1-0 on Tuesday.

Wood River, which split with Minico (10-5-2, 2-4-0) this season, needs another win over Burley Saturday to grab second place outright in the Great Basin West and a home game against Minico for the Oct. 9 tourney opener. Wood River won at Burley 2-1 Sept. 16.

Recap of Tuesday's tie games

Hillcrest senior striker Allison Gardner scored on the first Knights' shot in the eighth minute on the Hailey pitch. For the next 72 minutes, Wood River put plenty of pressure on keeper Hansen, particularly top scorer Tanner Dredge.

Dredge must have had 10 of the 27 Wood River shots, including a couple of break-ins in the first half. On one attack, keeper Hansen and a Knights defender hauled down Dredge. Senior captain Aimee Evans took and made the penalty kick at 31 minutes—Hailey's first successful penalty this fall.

Early in the second half, Evans took a series of three corner kicks. On the third, it appeared Delaney Fox pushed the ball over the goal line, good, but it was whistled a goal kick instead. "The referee had a better view of it," said Gvozdas.

So, instead of a 2-1 Hailey lead, the game turned into a goalkeeper Hansen highlight reel. She robbed a low liner by Evans at 61 minutes, and stopped Dredge's left-footed shot at 62 minutes. There were other fine chances, perhaps the best when defender Makayla Cappel deflected a Sam Johnson corner kick, just high.

Hillcrest coach Dave Coffman said about Hansen, "She had a fabulous game. She's only a junior, a first-year keeper, and has come into her own the last two-and-a-half weeks. She's smart and has good reflexes."

The coach added about his Hailey opponents, "Wood River is a great team—one of the fastest teams I've ever seen, all 11 of them are just bullets. They're very physical. We love playing them. Today, we could have done better on the 50-50s."

Gvozdas added, "Hillcrest is solid, their goalkeeper especially. They have dangerous frontrunners, overall good size and girls who work hard."

Besides defenders Cappel, Johnson and Laura Elgee, sophomore Ellen Davis had a fine, hustling game and sophomore keeper Madison Gove (11 saves) made some sparkling stops. Gvozdas said Dredge improved her mobility during a second half dominated by the home team.

"But I'm sure Tanner was frustrated. She had plenty of good chances to score," Gvozdas said.

Over in Idaho Falls, the Hillcrest boys (5-4-4) passed well in the first half and capitalized on a 28th-minute rebound goal by Riley Salmon. Junior Felipe Raygoza equalized in the 38th minute on a Morgan Pike pass.

Fast and strong, the host Knights made it 2-1 in the 50th minute on a Matt Holm goal, the assist going to Leighton Murri. But Wood River rallied late and leading scorer Austin Cruz (7 goals) finished the scoring at 2-2 with a 12-yard rebound shot in the 79th minute.

Hillcrest out-shot Wood River 10-8 and enjoyed a 9-4 edge in corners. Hailey keeper Colter Brehmer (5 saves) kept his team close. But Wood River kept a streak going—the Wolverines are 6-1-1, in close games settled by two goals or fewer.




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