Eleven Sawtooth United F.C. (SUFC) youth soccer teams from the Wood River Valley were in the big field of more than 100 teams Saturday and Sunday at the Canyon Rim Classic tournament for the U-10 through U-18 age groups.
And two SUFC squads came away with bragging rights at Sunway Soccer Complex—the U-12 boys beating Twin Falls Rapids 6-4 in a championship game shootout, and the U-16 girls capturing second place behind the Utah Red Devils.
The SUFC U-12 boys’ victory and total team effort over two days were noteworthy, according to coach Trent Stumph.
Stumph said, “All in all it was a great team effort that gave us the perfect record and top spot in the championship game. All the players showed up with their best game and provided solid contributions in all the matches.
“We had an outstanding performance from Mario Macias on the field as well as in the frame. We had goals from Jake Albright, Lucas Beste, Peter Morawitz, Will McGonigal and Chandler Stevens.
“There was great defensive play from Colton Donovan, Jack Keating, Jordan Schoen and Jonathan Yallico. And we had significant contributions along with great hustle play from Barrett Ott, Will Penrose, Jack Wojcik Yancey Egoavil and Luke Worst.”
After preliminary 7-3, 2-1 and 5-0 victories, the SUFC U-12 boys went up against Twin Falls Rapids for the fifth time this spring season—both teams entering Sunday’s final game with two wins apiece.
The Rapids seized an early 1-0 advantage with a penalty kick. In the second half with his team picking up the pace trailing by a goal, Macias equalized from 20 yards for a 1-1 game. That’s how the 50 minutes of regulation time ended.
SUFC again found itself in a hole during the 10-minute extra session when the Rapids penetrated the found the back of the net with two minutes remaining. Both teams turned up the intensity and the action was fast, hard and unrelenting.
Then, Lucas Beste was fouled and SUFC was awarded a free kick about 30 yards away from the goal frame. At that point Macias stepped up and found a way to put the ball in the back of the net and force the outcome into a shootout.
Stumph said, “Mario’s shot in the extra 10 was out of control, easily 30 yards out with less than a minute to play. One of the greatest youth sports moments I’ve ever witnessed.”
In the shootout SUFC U-12 boys Beste, Peter Morawitz, Macias and Colton Donovan buried their shootout attempts giving the Wood River boys their fourth win in four games. Goalkeeper Macias came up big with two saves to secure the win and U-12 bragging rights.
Meanwhile, the U-16 girls of coaches Luis Monjaras and Eric Anderson played through four very hot games and finished in second place.
After dropping their first game 3-0 to eventual champion Utah Red Devils, the SUFC U-16 girls responded well in their next challenge with a 2-0 victory over Xtreme of Idaho Falls. Samantha Sutton and Tayte Kelly provided the goals.
On Sunday the SUFC girls faced a physical Portneuf Valley United team and persevered for a hard-fought 1-0 triumph on a goal by Ashley Carnduff.
Later Sunday the Wood River Valley girls prevailed 2-1 over Mountain Home Flash with Olivia Thornton and Brigette Thomas scoring goals.
Other players were goalkeeper Olivia Ott, Claire Sauerbrey, Cheyenne Stopol, Maggie Sfingi, Caitlyn Sfingi, Riley Boice, Lucy Brannon, Megan Murphy, Autumn Fluetsch, Katelyn Rathfon, Timber Kelly and Nicole Shardlow.
In another exciting finish, coach Sally Gerlach’s SUFC U-11 boys pitched two shutouts in their consolation bracket games and won the consolation title 3-0 over the Pocatello United Flame Sunday.
Next up: The 10th annual “Soccer in the Sawtooths” recreational youth soccer jamboree Saturday and Sunday, May 18-19 in Hailey. Age groups will be coed U-6, U-7 and U-8, plus boys’ U-10 and girls’ U-10.
Boys at Canyon Rim
· U-16 boys (0-3-0): Playing up an age group in the eight-team older bracket, the SUFC U-15 boys lost 3-0, 7-0 and 4-0 to Twin Falls Rapids, Ballistic and Real Soccer Nampa.
· U-14 boys (1-2-0): Won 3-1 over Renegade SC; lost 2-1 to Elko (Nev.) Elite; lost 5-0 to Elko Elite.
· U-13 boys (0-3-0): Lost 1-0 to Rush Idaho Swoosh Blue; lost 7-1 to BNSC Chelsea; lost 1-0 to Blackfoot Mustangs.
· U-12 boys (4-0-0): Coach Trent Stumph’s SUFC boys outscored opponents 20-8 in four games for the championship of the six-team group.
· U-11 Gerlach boys (2-2-0): Lost 1-0 to Portneuf Valley Soccer Club (PVSC) United-Fire; lost 3-1 to BNSC Galaxy Blue; won 2-0 over SUFC Blue in consolation play; won 3-0 over PVSC United Flame in the consolation championship.
· U-11 Blues boys (0-3-0): Lost 5-0 to Galaxy Blue, lost 3-2 to Mountain Home Strikes, lost 2-0 to SUFC Gerlach.
Girls at Canyon Rim
· U-16 girls (3-1-0): Playing four tight games in Twin Falls heat, the SUFC girls amassed 25 points in their four games for second place in the five-team class behind the 34 points of Utah Red Devils (3-0-1).
· U-13 girls (0-3-1): Tied PVSC 1-1; lost 7-1 to Soccer Xpress Blaze; lost 2-1 to Real Boise Bombers; lost 4-0 to Fury FC Velocity.
· U-12 girls (1-1-1): Lost 2-0 to Bonecrushers; tied Twin Falls Rapids 0-0; and won the consolation “B” title 1-0 over Jackson Hole (Wyo.).
· U-11 White girls (0-2-1): Lost 3-0 to PVSC United Thunder; lost 4-0 to Idaho Rush Black; tied 0-0 with Jackson Hole in consolation play.
· U-11 Blue girls (0-3-0): Lost 7-0 to Idaho Rush White; lost 5-0 to FC Nova Pink; lost 4-1 to FC Nova Black.
