You get the feeling there is unresolved business between the Wood River High School and Burley Bobcat boys' soccer teams—and that the teams will be meeting again in the future with a lot more on the line.
Burley and Wood River battled to a 1-1 Great Basin Conference tie Saturday in a very good soccer game at South Valley Sports Complex in Hailey. But both teams seem to be a rung below the front-running Jerome Tigers in the Basin.
Jerome (8-0-0, 4-0-0 league) has won two straight Great Basin tournament titles and seems well on its way to a third. This year, there are two State 4A tournament berths going to the six-team Great Basin. And it appears Burley and Wood River might be fighting for the second state berth.
Burley coach Wes Nyblade said after Saturday's 1-1 draw, "Jerome has the flash-and-dash. We have the discipline, but we don't have that clinical finisher. Wood River is a lot like that too. Really, I think our styles (Burley and WRHS) mimic each other. It was a super game, and for us to come out with a 1-1 tie, that's good."
Wood River coach Luis Monjaras said, "It was an evenly matched game. We'll take a 1-1 tie against a team like Burley."
Halfway through the season, the two teams are in lockstep, Wood River (4-1-2, 2-1-1 league) and Burley (5-1-2, 2-1-1) both with seven points. The difference is Wood River has already played and lost to Jerome, while Burley is hosting Jerome today, Wednesday. Burley has already lost to Twin Falls 1-0.
And Wood River defeated Twin Falls 2-0 Monday.
The Wolverines (2-0-0 road) have the bulk of their home schedule behind them, though, and have five of their final eight on the road including visits to Jerome Monday, Sept. 21 and to Burley on Sept. 28.
But Monjaras' scrappy boys are on a bit of a roll, unbeaten in their last four since their 3-0 home loss to Jerome Sept. 2.
They struck first at 36 minutes against Burley when junior Bryan Donoso (3 goals season) followed up on a shot by Hector Gomez that was blocked by Burley keeper Taylor Whitehead (13 saves). Setting up the play was a lead pass from freshman Trevor Brand.
"My keeper made a nice save (on Gomez's shot)," said Burley coach Nyblade, suggesting that his defense didn't clear the ball properly. "It's still early in the season, but we've been giving up about a goal each game. The difference in this game was that we've never really been behind. It seems like this was the first real game we've had."
Trailing 1-0, Burley responded quickly when Alex Magana beat Hailey keeper Colter Brehmer (6 saves) from the top of the box at 39 minutes. Monjaras said, "We were forgetting Burley in the midfield and that's where they were getting everything through. That's how they scored their goal."
Earlier in the first half, Brehmer had saved Wood River's bacon when he made two sparking saves—the first on a blast by Burley captain Woody Anguiano, and the second on the very legitimate rebound try by Pablo Gonzalez.
The teams played evenly in the second half and Wood River ended up with an 18-7 shooting advantage. Corner kicks were even 4-4. Nyblade said he was grateful the referee "let the teams play." Monjaras commented that senior Morgan Pike showed solid leadership.
Wolverines tame Twin 2-0
On a windy day in Hailey, you could make an argument that Wood River earned its 2-0 home victory over Twin Falls (2-6-1, 1-3-1 league) on Monday by playing the Bruins to a scoreless 0-0 tie in the first half.
That's when Wood River was going against the brisk wind, and the hard-charging home team still spent a good deal of time in the Bruins zone and had a 9-5 shooting advantage.
Junior right back Harlan Collins had an excellent first half for Wood River. Monjaras was also impressed with the play of tall freshman defender Zack Freeman, who has stepped into his role seamlessly and won every ball the air. He also cleared a dangerous Bruins attempt just after half, with Brehmer (7 saves) drawn out.
"We started off slow and didn't seem to have our chemistry going in the first half," Monjaras said. "But the wind was bad, and even against the wind we pushed the ball well. In the second half we switched to a 3-5-2 to do more in the midfield so players like Morgan (Pike) could be more creative."
Brehmer's wind-aided kicks and lead boomers by defensemen like Cody Phelps and Spyder Turco helped Wood River flood the Twin Falls zone—and it finally paid off with a succession of fouls and direct kicks.
Gomez hit a free kick six minutes after half that Donoso headed home for the eventual game winner. Actually, Donoso climbed the ladder and sort of turned his body and re-directed the ball off the back of his neck.
Wood River's second goal, five minutes later, came from hard work by Felipe Raygoza—Gomez (5 goals) collecting Raygoza's cross in the box, turning and then firing. Just before the final whistle, freshman Liam Jablonski ripped a shot off the crossbar and Bruins keeper Ruben Flores (16 saves) stopped the Alejandro Garcia rebound.
Canyon Ridge of Twin Falls (1-5-3, 0-1-2), a 4-1 loser at Jerome Monday, will host Wood River today, Wednesday.
Wood River senior Luis “Freddy” Tamayo cranks out a shot during his team’s 3-0 home loss to Great Basin Conference frontrunner Jerome Sept. 2.
