Wood River boys blank Burley 2-0
The good news for the Wood River High School boys' soccer team was its 2-0 Great Basin Conference home victory over the Burley Bobcats Thursday that put the Wolverines in great shape for one of the top two seeds in the GBC tourney.
Senior Alexander MacMillan supported by seniors Benito Reveles and Charlie Evans led Wood River's dominance of the midfield in that league battle.
MacMillan assisted beautifully on the first goal scored by senior Bryan Donoso at the 27-minute mark. Another senior, Ian Murphy, provided insurance in the box at 47 minutes, from Evans, after a long throw-in by senior Harlan Collins.
Wood River coach Luis Monjaras said, "Always fun to play Burley. It was a pretty even game but we put the ball in the back when we needed it. There was a lot of straight-up play in the midfield, with smart fouls on each side. Our players pushed it through."
Based on last year's tournament format, Monjaras believed that taking one of the top two spots in the regular-season standings would mean his Wolverines would have their first playoff game at home. "This win puts us in a real good spot for a homefield game," he said after Thursday's win.
However, the not-so-good news this week is Wood River can forget about hosting a home game in the six-team league tournament that starts Thursday, Oct. 7 with two first-round games matching the #3 and #6 seeds, and the #4 and #5 seeds based on league marks.
GBC officials announced the league tournament bracket Monday. The lack of game officials (14 in the region, compared to 27 last year) forced them to stage all three games on the second day of the single elimination consolation bracket meet at one location—Sunway Soccer Complex in Twin Falls on Saturday, Oct. 9.
Wood River (6-4-1, 5-2-1 league) should know whether it is #1 or #2 by Thursday. The Wolverines visited Twin Falls (4-5-3, 2-4-1) Tuesday and host Minico (7-5-1, 3-3-1) today, Wednesday for "Senior Night" in Hailey at 4:30 p.m. Jerome (10-1-3, 5-1-2) visited Minico Tuesday and goes to Canyon Ridge (2-10-1, 0-6-1) Thursday.
Settling the 3-4-5 spots in the tournament will be Thursday's game between Burley (6-2-4, 2-1-4) and Twin Falls, and next Tuesday's Burley-Minico game.
Another hat trick for Dredge as WRHS rolls
Coach Jenni Conrad's Wood River High School girls' soccer team entered the final week of its 2010 regular-season slate with Tuesday's home clash against the league-leading Twin Falls Bruins in Hailey.
Wood River (8-2-1, 7-1-0 league) brought a 5-0-0 home record into Tuesday's game with Twin Falls (10-1-0, 7-0-0). Both teams were coming off shutout league wins, the Wolverines 7-0 at Burley Thursday and Twin Falls 9-0 at Jerome.
Senior striker Tanner Dredge of Wood River (18 goals season, 104 career) netted her fourth three-goal hat trick of the season and 19th of her four-year Wolverine career in the 7-0 victory on the Burley pitch.
Adding single goals in Wood River's third consecutive Great Basin shutout win, and eighth shutout of the season, were Nicole Roos, Haley Montgomery, Halsey Pierce and K.T. Martinez. It was Pierce's first goal and Montgomery's second.
Wood River will travel to Minico today, Wednesday and entertain the Century Diamondbacks for "Senior Day" Saturday, Oct. 2 at 12 noon at South Valley Sports Complex soccer field in Hailey.
Two shutouts for TCS soccer teams at Bliss
Community School soccer teams enjoyed a productive trip to Bliss Friday before the 10-day break for school outdoor outings. The Cutthroat girls handled Bliss 6-0. The Sun Valley boys blanked the Bears 5-0.
The Cutthroat girls (11-2-0, 10-0-0 league) recorded their seventh shutout and, according to coach Kelly Feldman, played their best game since beating the Filer Wildcats 7-0 on Sept. 15 at Sagewillow Farms.
Freshmen and sophomores continued to supply most of the scoring, with soph Ellie Swanson (22 goals season) putting two goals in the net and freshman Hannah Dies (15) adding two more plus three assists.
Single goals at Bliss came from freshmen Jordan Fitzgerald (10 goals), who added two assists, and Whitney Englemann (6 goals).
"While the underclassmen got more than their share of the glory, they continue to be supported by the experienced play of juniors and seniors. It was a true team effort," said coach Feldman about the result.
Coach Richard Whitelaw's Cutthroat boys (5-6-1, 4-5-1 league) snapped a three-game losing skid with their 5-0 win—the most goals scored in a single game by the Cutthroats since the 2008 season when they beat Filer twice 5-1 and 5-0.
"Man of the Match" honors went to the two seniors, Tony Martin (2 goals) and John Chrysikopoulos (1). Other goal scorers were junior Cassidy Carson and sophomore Logan Shipley, his first varsity goal assisted by Carson on a cross.
The Cutthroat teams travel to Buhl Monday, Oct. 4, with the girls playing at 4:30 p.m. and the boys at 6 p.m. The Buhl girls (9-3-0, 8-2-0 league) defeated the Filer Wildcats (5-3-1 league) by a 4-1 score Monday.
Wood River senior defender Harlan Collins booms another goal kick during Thursday’s 2-0 Wolverine win over Burley at South Valley Sports Complex soccer field, Hailey. Wood River has its “Senior Night” today, Wednesday against Minico on the same field. Photo by David N. Seelig
