All season long, the Wood River High School girls' varsity soccer team had a certain swagger, a confidence they could succeed with speed, depth, talent and teamwork.
Having eight seniors helped, but you've got to carry yourself well—and Wood River did. "We tried to educate the younger kids and make it as much of a family as we could," said four-year starter Delaney Fox.
The Wolverines certainly attracted pre-game attention when they strolled as a team into Caldwell's Brothers Park last weekend wearing with their hooded sweatshirts, boom boxes booming loud music. It was the State 4A tournament, but Wood River was smooth.
And deadly with their touches on the field, at least for the final two games of 2008.
Wood River, after a devastating 2-0 loss to eventual State 4A champion Bishop Kelly Thursday, regrouped for its final two games and pounded Bonneville of Idaho Falls 9-0 and Century of Pocatello 5-0 in Saturday's consolation championship.
It was Wood River's second straight consolation championship, and third in five years. And it continued a long pattern of success for Wolverine girls' teams at state soccer (30-15 record in 14 consecutive state trips, 11 trophies in 14 years, 125-63 goals-against at state).
Leading scorers Tanner Dredge (39 goals in 21 games) and Aimee Evans (24 goals) led the way with three-goal hat tricks against Bonneville, then Dredge tallied the all-important first goal against Century Saturday and Evans added two.
Coach Greg Gvozdas' Wolverines (18-2-1) emerged as the highest scoring team (14-2 goals against) of all 48 squads in last weekend's Idaho High School Activities Association State 5A/4A/3A soccer tournaments in the Treasure Valley. Their 9-0 win over Bonneville was the most lopsided of the weekend.
They set a school single-season victory record with 18 wins, and finalized the season's scoring with a school-record 131 goals—way surpassing the previous mark of 107 set by the 2000 State A-2 championship squad from Hailey. And they went 14-1-1 against 4A teams.
Gvozdas said, "The girls showed tremendous character to bounce back after the devastating loss to Bishop Kelly. They showed their resolve, ending with the most wins that a Wood River team has ever had. The State 4A consolation trophy was well deserved.
"We've had some small classes leading up to this group of senior girls. But to have a group of seniors who stayed together all the way through, well, it was good to see, and we wish them all the best."
Beating Century by such a large margin, 5-0 on a very mild afternoon, put a spring in Wood River's step. It was Wood River's 12th shutout of the season and second straight whitewash over last year's State 4A third-place Century (13-3-3). Century also won three State 4A titles in 2003 and 2005-06.
Fox, perhaps the fastest player on the team and one who saved her best game for the Century finale, said, "We had played Century before and knew we didn't want them to score. We didn't want to back down. We wanted the shutout.
"There were so many tears of happiness. It's been an honor to play for this team, and it's been so much fun."
"We came out hard for our last game," said Evans, who said winning a state trophy felt extremely good. "At the beginning of the season we had a difficult time but we overcame it and played well together. We worked hard, everywhere, off the field and on the field."
The Century game
Click here for game photo gallery
Having gotten the Century monkey off their backs with a pivotal 1-0 victory over the Diamondbacks Oct. 16 in Pocatello, the Wolverines had no qualms about playing Century again, whether in the title game or sometime Saturday.
Interviewed by Pocatello's Idaho State Journal after the 1-0 win two weeks ago, Gvozdas talked about a possible rematch at state with great anticipation. He said Wood River would welcome the challenge because of Century's talent and the respect the Diamondbacks have earned the last several years.
But Hailey, blanked by Century in nine of 13 meetings prior to this season, knew it needed to score the first goal in Saturday's fourth-place game.
Wood River opened up a 2-0 halftime lead on scores by Dredge (53 goals career) and Fox, who made a beautiful header on a set piece off an Evans direct kick. "We've been practicing it," said Fox. "It was so important, maybe the point between victory and defeat."
Dredge's goal was welcome and equally pretty.
Gvozdas started all eight seniors and kept all of them in the game for the first 10 minutes while black-shirted Wood River was revving up its attack against Century's defense of Brooke Dial, Shailee Smith, Kallie Johns and Sarah Fort.
Century had outscored opponents 48-5 in 16 games before losing its first State 4A tourney game Thursday 3-0 to District Three champ Skyview (18-5-0). Century stayed alive Friday 1-0 over Hillcrest of Idaho Falls. Remember, the Diamondbacks had always returned home with a state tournament trophy. Until Saturday, that is.
Having barely touched the ball in the first 30 minutes, Dredge needed to find some daylight behind Century's tough defense. And she found it thanks to an outstanding build-up from midfield that started with Megan Morrell and went to Bailey Ireland, over to Dredge, to Elsa Sweek, and back to Dredge along the left.
Dredge pulled the trigger.
In Thursday's first half against Bishop Kelly, Dredge had been denied on a similar sharp-angled shot from the left, and she had also been pulled down in the box twice without a foul being whistled. But that was all water under the bridge.
This time, Dredge shot high instead of aiming for a short side opening.
Dredge said, "I came down the left side. I usually go between the goalie and the post, but I went high instead. Ellen (Davis) was watching the play and she said she knew I was going to go high. So, as soon as I did and it went in, Ellen said, 'yessss." It was awesome."
Wood River didn't let up when the second half started.
Evans (24 goals season, 75 career) scored twice in the second half, the first on a penalty and the second on a long free kick with a minute left. She scored the first goal of Wood River's season Aug. 23 in the 1-0 home win over state runner-up Skyview, and the final goal.
Faster on the field and more aggressive throughout the game, the Wolverines outshot a demoralized Century team 13-4 in the second half and 19-6 for the game. Wood River applied constant pressure, Evans feeding sweet serves from the midfield and onto the flanks.
Gvozdas said, "With three frontrunners and two on the flanks, we had a lot of play along the flanks. It made us more dangerous.
"Watching Century drop back into their defensive formation from the opening kickoff, we knew we had to take advantage and we did. And we knew they would give us their best shot right after half, so we had to match their intensity. And we were able to do that."
Sweek, a four-year senior, added Wood River's other goal, finishing into an open net after the Century keeper came out to block a testing Dredge shot. Sweek (23 career goals) and Fox (20) were two of the four main Wood River senior scorers, the others Evans and Sam Johnson (50), who scored 168 goals between them over four years.
Wood River sophomore goalkeeper Madison Gove (4 saves) was busier in the second half, squeezing a dangerous free kick by Century's Kallie Johns between her legs with the score still 2-0 at 56 minutes.
On Friday, Wood River bounced back from its first-round 2-0 loss to eventual state champion Bishop Kelly of Boise with a 9-0 thrashing of Bonneville's Bees from Idaho Falls.
The highest-scoring game of all state contests featured three goals apiece by Dredge and Evans along with singles by Sweek, Megan Morrell and K.T. Martinez. Goalkeeper Gove had the shutout that gave coach Gvozdas a win in his 100th game guiding the Wolverines.
It was no contest when Bonneville, a first-round 6-0 loser to Moscow on Thursday, and Wood River played soccer for the first time in five years.
Wood River out-shot Bonneville 13-4 in the first half and had a 5-1 edge in corner kicks.
Freshman midfielder Morrell, one of Wood River's bright future stars, poked home a goal in the crowded box at five minutes. Dredge went out with an ankle injury at 16 minutes, but Wood River made it 2-0 at 19 minutes when Sweek scored with her left foot, from Martinez, on a play started by Evans at the top of the box.
Evans scored her fourth hat trick of the season, and eighth of her career, in a nine-minute span starting with an 18-yard free kick from the top of the box at 27 minutes. Evans also dribbled through the defense for the fourth goal of the game, and made good on a short-side indirect blast, from Johnson.
Two minutes before half, Evans headed the ball ahead from the midfield stripe. Dredge, back in the game, collected the ball and went in alone for the sixth goal and a 6-0 Wolverine halftime lead.
Dredge added two more goals early in the second half to join Evans in the natural hat-trick category, then speedy freshman Martinez (9 goals) finalized the scoring at 9-0 off a Laura Elgee corner kick.
Here is a summary of the state tournament final results:
State 4A girls—Championship: Bishop Kelly (20-2-0) 3-2 in double overtime over Skyview (18-5-0). A second straight state title for Bishop Kelly. Third place: Columbia (15-7-2) 2-1 in overtime over Moscow (8-10-4). Consolation: Wood River (18-2-1) 5-0 over Century (13-3-3).
State 4A boys—Championship: Sandpoint (19-1-0) 5-1 over Columbia (13-9-3). Sandpoint's sixth state boys' title in nine years. Third place: Jerome (19-1-1) 4-0 over Century (9-4-5). Consolation: Skyview (21-1-0) 4-3 double overtime (kicks) over Hillcrest of Idaho Falls.
State 5A girls—Championship: Timberline of Boise (14-4-2) 2-1 in double overtime over Capital of Boise (16-5-2). A second straight title for Timberline. Third place: Boise (15-3-2) 4-1 over Centennial (15-8-1). Consolation: Sandpoint (15-4-4) 2-1 over Mountain View (14-4-3).
State 5A boys—Championship: Boise (18-2-0) 4-1 over Mountain View (15-4-1). A second straight title for Boise. Third place: Centennial (17-3-2) 1-0 over Timberline (11-9-0). Consolation: Idaho Falls (16-2-2) 2-1 over Coeur d'Alene (10-10-0).
State 3A girls—Championship: First-time state champion Fruitland (10-3-2) 3-0 over Shelley (9-7-4). Third-place: Payette (10-5-4) 3-1 over Bonners Ferry (11-9-1). Consolation: Teton (19-4-1) 2-0 over Snake River of Moreland (12-3-5).
State 3A boys—Championship: Payette (15-2-2) 5-1 over American Falls. It was the first state championship for Payette's boys since back-to-back titles in 2001-02. Third place: Bonners Ferry (14-5-3) 3-1 over Sugar-Salem of Sugar City (17-4-1). Consolation: Bliss 2-0 over Wendell (12-3-2).
WOLVERINE NOTES—The Boise-area Third District claimed five of the six state soccer championships last weekend, Sandpoint (4A boys) the exception. The Boise area's 20 teams compiled a 34-18 overall record, and that includes some games played against each other. The seven teams in the Fourth District (7-11 overall) were skunked in the title department. So were the 14 eastern Idaho teams (12-25)....Of the 66 games, 38 were shutouts...There were no undefeated state champions.....The Bishop Kelly girls (3.605 GPA) and Pocatello boys (3.528) were the IHSAA Fall Sports Academic 4A state champions.
The only teams coming close to Wood River's 14-2 goals-against were Boise in 5A boys (12-3) and Bonners Ferry in 3A boys (12-6).....And the only game coming close to Wood River's 9-0 rout of Bonneville Friday was Boise's 7-2 victory over Timberline in 5A boys.....Last year's Fruitland girls' squad also had a 9-0 state tournament win, over Filer, en route to a 17-5 goals against and second place in 3A, behind Teton of Driggs....This was the ninth year that the Idaho High School Activities Association sponsored state soccer tournaments....Next year's tentative state soccer sites are Pocatello for 5A, Post Falls in northern Idaho for 4A, and Buhl for 3A.
In their 14 consecutive state tournament appearances, Wood River girls' teams have never gone home without a win. At state since 1995, Wolverine teams have a 30-15 record and 125-63 goals-against. They have won state championships in 1995 and 2000, and second place in 2003. Wood River has earned third-place trophies in 1998 and 1999, and six consolation championships in 1996, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2007 and 2008. In all, Wolverine teams have brought home 11 state trophies in 14 trips to state soccer.....
Wood River's previous scoring high in a state tournament game was a 7-0 win over Teton in the 2000 state tournament.....Assistant coach Doug Stouffer, who made his ninth straight state trip last weekend, was the first-year Wolverine head coach in the unbeaten 17-0-2 season of 2000.....Erin Elgee, a junior on that undefeated state title team of 2000, watched Saturday's Wood River-Century consolation final to support her younger sister Laura Elgee, Wood River's sweeper.....With her 39 goals, Tanner Dredge came within four goals of equalling the school single-season record of 43 set by Margii Driscoll in 2005....With 53 career Wolverine goals, Dredge in her final two seasons will have a shot at the school's career scoring mark of 85 established by Kristi Toussaint in 2000.....Coach Gvozdas (79-16-6 overall, 8-7 in 5 state tournaments) has surpassed Tizz Strachan Miller (72-18-7) as the all-time winningest Wood River coach.....In five seasons playing at the 4A level, Wood River has outscored its opponents 464-87.....The Wolverines are now 5-9-1 all-time against Century, but 5-5-1 under coach Gvozdas.....Evans (#3 all-time with 75 goals), Dredge (#5 all-time with 53) and Sam Johnson (#6 all-time with 50) have climbed the scoring lists.....Wood River's 16-season girls' soccer mark is 205-53-24.
Final team statistics: Wood River 18-2-1 (8-0-1 home, 10-2-0 away, 6-0-0 league). Goals scored: 131 (6.2 per game). Goals against: 12 with 12 shutouts in 21 games. Individual scoring: Tanner Dredge 39 (53 career, scoring in 15 of the 21 games), Aimee Evans 24 (75 career), Elsa Sweek 13, Samantha Johnson 10 (50 career), K.T. Martinez 9, Megan Morrell 7, Delaney Fox 5, Taylor Hayes 4, Halsey Pierce 3, Ali Appleton 3, Maddie Kate Currie 3, Ellen Davis 2, Laura Elgee 2, Bailey Ireland 2, Sloan Storey 1, Morgan Brimstein 1, Makayla Cappel 1, Devan Annan 1, Ashley Hesteness 1.
Thursday's loss to Bishop Kelly
One goal in each half and a ferocious defense gave the defending State 4A champion Bishop Kelly Knights a 2-0 victory over the upset-minded Wood River Wolverines Thursday in a first-round game of the State 4A girls' soccer tournament at Brothers Park.
Bishop Kelly senior Emily Raimondi slipped behind the Wood River defense and scored on a cross pass from senior Chelsea Bokan at the 11-minute mark, and the Knights added an insurance goal in the 76th minute when junior forward Julie Zamzow beat the Hailey defense on a pass from sophomore Ali Eisenbeiss.
The Knights outshot Wood River 14-11 for the game, but the Wolverines applied most of the pressure in the second half with an 8-7 edge.
"It's been a curse for us in the past, and it was today as well—lots of shots and no goals," said coach Gvozdas.
Wood River sophomore goalkeeper Gove (12 saves) was solid at the back, and Bishop Kelly senior Alicia Berggen (3 saves) didn't see as much of the action.
That was chiefly because of a rock-solid Knights defense led by sweeper K.K. Long, a senior, along with senior Carmen Angleton, junior Christa Saur and junior Anna Marie Totorica.
Gvozdas said about playing the defending champs in the first state tournament game, "Early on, I thought the occasion seemed too big for us, and that early goal got us behind the eight ball. We had two really good chances in the first half, by Tanner Dredge and Aimee Evans, and it would have been a much different story going into the half 1-1.
"We tried to turn to our seniors for leadership at the half, but we just couldn't get good enough chances. Our free kicks, corners and through balls weren't precise enough."
The best Hailey chances in the first half came about midway through, when leading scorer Dredge sprinted down the left wing and launched a cannon shot that Knights keeper Berggen got a piece of, and also at the 38-minute mark, when Evans broke through the defense after a free kick by Sam Johnson and shot point-blank, only to be stopped on a brilliant save by Berggen.
It was a disappointing loss for the top-ranked Wood River girls, who had to turn their attention to winning the 4A consolation bracket trophy, an achievement that Wood River earned in 2004 and 2007.
"We have to take the evening to regroup after such a difficult loss. We'd like to stay until Saturday," Gvozdas said.
The Wolverines have never beaten Bishop Kelly in four tries and have been outscored 20-0 in those games, twice by shutouts in the first round of the State 4A tournament.
Wood River senior midfielder Bailey Ireland hustles down a ball during Saturday’s state consolation championship game against Century of Pocatello, played in Caldwell.
Photo by David N. Seelig
