Back in the day, let's say the early 1990s, the Weber State men's club soccer team from Utah was just about a sure thing in the Ketchum Classic summer soccer tournament.
Weber State's young men won four Ketchum Classic titles in seven years ending in 1995. In 1994 and 1995, they were 8-0 and outscored their eight opponents here 33-2. Only Boise Blast has been as dominant in the Ketchum Classic.
In 1995, Weber State and the tournament's other longtime dynasty, Boise Blast, played a simply classic championship game during which the Utah players came from behind to equalize 1-1 and then win 5-4 in a shootout with 12 shooters.
Ketchum Classic tournaments and players have come and gone in the 15 years since that game, but Weber State hasn't returned to the top step in the two-day Atkinson Park tourney—coming the closest in a 1-0 title game loss to Boise United in 2007.
That drought ended Sunday, Aug. 8 when Weber State ended a 4-0 run in this year's eight-team tournament with a 4-3 shootout victory over Bad Irish of Boise, after the teams tied 3-3 after the regulation 80 minutes.
It was Weber's second straight shootout win in the tourney, coming after its 3-2 win over Firehouse FC. And it was Bad Irish's third shootout in its four tourney games. The Boise boys had beaten Jackson Hole 4-3 and Five Monkeys 3-2 in two earlier shootouts.
The only local team, Lefty's F.C./San Lorenzo, went 1-2 in its three contests. Lefty's dropped its first game 3-1 to Bad Irish Saturday morning. Lefty's won 1-0 over Five Monkeys later Saturday and absorbed a 3-1 loss to Jackson Hole Sunday morning.
On a weekend with glorious weather and some excellent soccer—five shootouts in 13 games and three other one-goal outcomes—few spectators except for family and friends remained Sunday when Weber State and Bad Irish clashed in the Ketchum Classic finale.
Bad Irish got off to a 1-0 lead. Weber State reeled off three straight goals, two by Scott Burrows and one by Kevin Young, to seize a 3-1 lead at the 50-minute mark. Burrows' second goal from 25 yards out early in the second half came on Weber State's first shot of the second half.
Two goals by Tyson Crim and one by Stephen Davidson brought Bad Irish into a 3-3 regulation tie and the outcome went directly into a five-player alternating shot shootout.
After Bad Irish's first shooter hit the post, Weber State's first sniper, Jess Patterson, cracked a ball off the crossbar and into the net giving Utah the early advantage. Bad Irish's Theron Fereday made his shot, and so did Weber State's second shooter, Kody Hunter, for a 2-1 Utah lead.
Goalkeeper Jan Robbins of Weber State stopped Bad Irish's third attempt. In the fourth set of shooters, Bad Irish's goalkeeper Gavin Kempe stepped up and made his shot for a 2-2 tie. Matching Kempe was Weber's goal scorer Burrows, making it 3-2.
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Bad Irish striker Alex Mangeac was Boise's fifth and final shooter—and he made no mistake for a 3-3 tie. The outcome came down to Weber's McKay Steggell, and he calmly put the ball into the net for the 4-3 final.
Lefty's/San Lorenzo, the host team in the 34th annual Ketchum Classic men's tournament, hadn't played or practiced together with any regularity. Still, the Wood River Valley team kept pace with eventual finalist Bad Irish in its tournament debut Saturday.
Bad Irish's Mangeac used some fancy footwork to give the Boise team a 1-0 lead at the 13-minute mark, then Marco Hidalgo of Lefty's made a shot in the box after a Anibal Christian pass at 18 minutes, 1-1.
Shortly after the second-half kickoff, Bad Irish' Tyson Crim chipped a ball into the Ketchum net for a 2-1 lead. Only five minutes remained in regulation when Mangeac got behind the defense for the insurance goal in the 3-1 victory.
Lefty's/San Lorenzo goalkeeper Rigo Tellez said he had never played the position before, but Tellez was excellent for the home team in the second half against Boise. He made five or six outstanding stops, helped by a defense led by Richard Hidalgo, Josh Stanek and Shaun Kelly.
In the second Lefty's game, a 1-0 triumph, midfielder Raul Fenesan provided the game-winning goal from 18 feet at the 87-minute mark.
Sunday morning, Lefty's/San Lorenzo substitute Florin Fleischer came off the bench and took a pass from Ronald Aquino for the only goal of the first half at 35 minutes and a 1-0 lead over the red-shirted Jackson Hole team from Wyoming.
Although John Campbell, Fenesan and Bryan Donoso all had decent chances to extend the lead early in the second half, it was Jackson Hole cashing in. The first goal was by Phil Ferry on a Tom Bresnehan pass, the second by Ferry at 59 minutes after a Brian Izard shot clanged off the post, and the third on a chip by sweeper Ben Slagle at 79 minutes.
Here are tourney scores:
Bad Irish 3-1 over Lefty's/San Lorenzo; Five Monkeys 2-0 over Jackson Hole; Firehouse FC 3-2 (shootout) over Thirsty Dog; Weber State 2-1 over defending champion Boise United; and Lefty's/San Lorenzo 1-0 over Five Monkeys;
Bad Irish 4-3 (shootout) over Jackson Hole; Firehouse FC 1-0 over Boise United; Weber State 6-0 over Thirsty Dog; Jackson Hole 3-1 over Lefty's/San Lorenzo; Bad Irish 3-2 (shootout) over Five Monkeys; Weber State 3-2 (shootout) over Firehouse FC; Boise United 6-2 over Thirsty Dog; Weber State 4-3 (shootout) over Bad Irish (finale).
A shortage of women's teams and players put an early end to the 29th annual Laurent Perrier women's soccer tourney played simultaneously with last weekend's men's meet. So, the local women combined with Jackson Hole players to form two teams and play two friendly matches.
Casey Kelly scored for the Laurent Perrier women in Saturday's 1-1 tie. That evening, Jazz Campbell (pass from Susan Butler) and Butler (unassisted) gave Laurent Perrier a 2-2 regulation tie and the outcome went to a shootout.
In the shootout of Saturday's women's game played during the annual Ketchum Classic barbecue at the picnic shelter, Laurent Perrier won 3-2 on successful shots by Campbell, Butler and Danielle Travers.
Backbones of the home team's defense for the weekend were Siobhan Sutton, Kate Sparks, Brisa Ayub and Travers. Laurent Perrier goalkeeper was Sandy Letzing. Other players were Marlin Valdivia, Kathlyne Scheidt, Kipp Mills, Erika Connelly, Angela Wahl and Naomi Goldberg.
Marco Hidalgo of Lefty’s/San Lorenzo (white shirt, center) battles with a Bad Irish player from Boise during Saturday’s Ketchum Classic tournament game won by Bad Irish 3-1 on the lower field at Ketchum’s Atkinson Park. Photo by Willy Cook
