A bridesmaid to Wood River the last two seasons and a 4-3 loser to the Community School Aug. 27 in Sun Valley, the Twin Falls Bruins had something to prove Wednesday during their visit to Hailey for an important early-season Great Basin Conference girls’ soccer clash.
Rebuilding Twin Falls, with no seniors on its roster, dominated the action for 80 minutes sparked by its talented junior Claire Goss. The hustling Bruins out-shot unbeaten WoodRiver by a 17-8 count—including 11-3 in the second half.
The Bruins (1-3-1, 1-0-1 league) earned a 1-1 draw when freshman Kylie Greenawald netted a shot in the 78th minute on a cross from Goss. Only an outstanding performance by WoodRiver senior goalkeeper Cheyenne Swanson (13 saves, 10 in the second half) enabled the Wolverines (5-0-1, 3-0-1 league) to escape with a tie.
WoodRiver coach Jenni Conrad said, “Twin Falls had something to prove and nothing to lose. They did a great job of pressuring us in the midfield. We haven’t faced a team that has pressured us like that on the ball. We’ll just have to figure out how to deal with it.”
The speed of Twin Falls defenders Carolyn Hernandez, Hannah Greenawald, Hailey Stott and Peyton Karl matched the speed of WoodRiver forwards like Haley Montgomery, Erin Murphy and Olivia Thornton. Goss distributed the ball well and anticipated every move that WoodRiver made.
Bruins defenders stepped into passing lanes and kept Wolverine attacks from forming. It was scoreless at half.
Conrad said, “We weren’t connecting on passes because we held the ball too long in the midfield. Our kids were super flat—not moving their feet and not moving to the ball. We didn’t transition well at all. We were lucky to get the tie. Cheyenne kept us in the game.”
Montgomery (a team-high 7 goals) provided WoodRiver with a 1-0 lead with her team’s first shot on goal in the second half, fully 13 minutes into it. Her goal was vital, because Twin Falls had Swanson under siege early in the second half.
Passes from senior Sloan Storey and freshman Lucy Brannon ended up on Montgomery’s foot just outside the box, where she pivoted and launched a missile high into the net. Five minutes later, Montgomery limped off the field with a left calf injury.
Goss, who played for a Meridian-based club team this past summer that enjoyed great success in two national tournaments, accounted for eight of the 11 Twin Falls shots after half and was denied each time by Swanson. But the fleet Bruins player with over 50 goals in her three-year career chased down a ball and centered it to Kylie Greenawald for the equalizer with two minutes left.
WoodRiver hosts 5A Highland of Pocatello Monday, Sept. 12 at 4:30 p.m. in Hailey. A state tournament qualifier last year, Highland is one of the state’s best. The Rams beat WoodRiver 3-1 in Pocatello in 2010.
Hailey boys blank Twin 4-0
Reigning GBC boys’ champ Wood River (2-3-0, 2-2-0 league) captured its first road league win of the 2011 season Wednesday with a solid performance in a 4-0 victory over the host Twin Falls Bruins (0-4-1, 0-2-0).
“We were on the attack constantly and outplayed Twin for most of the game,” said coach Luis Monjaras about his team’s second straight shutout win in league action. “It was a pretty solid game for everyone.”
Sophomore Stephen Pfeiffer, assisted by Alex Lopez, tallied his first varsity goal at the eight-minute mark and sophomore Andrew Graves notched his third goal of the season 90 seconds later for a 2-0 Wolverine halftime advantage.
Juniors Liam Jablonski and Josh Morell (first varsity goal) finished the scoring with unassisted second-half goals. Senior goalkeeper Dylan Carey (5 saves) preserved his second shutout by saving a penalty shot during the second half.
WoodRiver meets league challenger and 2010 state qualifier Burley (2-3-0, 1-1-0 league) on Saturday, Sept. 10 at 11 a.m. on the Hailey pitch. Burley has dropped 3-2 games to Highland, Preston and Canyon Ridge, while beating Pocatello 4-0 and the Jerome Tigers 2-0.
League leader Minico (5-1-1, 3-0-1 league) played to a 2-2 home draw with Jerome (3-1-1, 1-1-1) on Wednesday.
Wood River High freshman Timber Kelly (left) goes shoulder-to-shoulder with Twin Falls defender Peyton Karl during Wednesday’s 1-1 draw in Hailey. Photo by David N. Seelig
