Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Cutthroat boys on a roll entering state soccer

Open Thursday against Teton, in Twin Falls


By JEFF CORDES
Express Staff Writer

     Raise your hand if you think the most entertaining State 3A boys’ soccer tournament championship game match-up Saturday, Oct. 25 in Twin Falls would pit the Community School Cutthroats against Weiser’s Wolverines.

     Or maybe it’s the Community School in a rematch with the Wendell Trojans. The teams provided a classic game for soccer aficionados Oct. 15 that the Cutthroats won 1-0 for their first High Desert Soccer Conference title since 2007.

     Both scenarios are possible when the eight-team State 3A tournament gets underway Thursday, Oct. 23 at SunWay Soccer Complex in Twin Falls.

     Either way, you’d want the high-octane attack and smothering defense of the Cutthroats there in the title game, since they haven’t been in the state tournament championship since falling 4-1 to Hailey’s Wood River High School way back in the 2003 meet at Buhl.

     And they’re operating on all cylinders at this crucial stage.

     Coach Richard Whitelaw is taking his Cutthroats to their 26th state soccer tournament. They last won the title for Whitelaw in 1999 by a 3-1 score over Middleton in Idaho Falls, back when you qualified via round robin in the Idaho Youth Soccer Association World Cup format.

     They also won state titles in 1992 and 1986, and way back in the ancient days of 1976.

     Recently, the Cutthroats have won the State 3A consolation trophy in three of their last four state trips dating back to 2006. They missed out last year with a 6-1 loss to Wendell in that consolation championship game.

     Pre-tournament favorite this year is last year’s state runner-up Weiser (15-2-1), having scored 112 goals and yielded just 21 in 18 games. The Wolverines, seeking their first state championship since 2000, are unbeaten in Idaho and have lost only to Ontario (Ore.) 6-2 and 3-2.

     Six teams return from last fall’s state tournament won by Gooding 1-1 (4-2 kicks) over Weiser. Four of the state qualifiers have won state—Weiser, Teton (2006), Bonners Ferry (2007) and Wendell (2010).

     Whitelaw’s Cutthroats (14-3-1) have outscored opponents 97-12 (11 shutouts) and are unbeaten in their last eight contests (7-0-1) with a 40-1 scoring edge down that blistering homestretch.

     Their ball control and attacking skills have been matched only by an unyielding defense spearheaded by senior captain Jack Swanson. Junior Jay Fitzgerald (32 goals) leads the offensive charge.

     Here is the state schedule:

     Thursday, Oct. 23: At 11 a.m., Weiser (15-2-1) vs. eastern Idaho champion American Falls (10-1-4) and Bonners Ferry (11-5-1) vs. Wendell (12-1-3). At 2 p.m., Sugar-Salem of Sugar City (16-0-1) vs. Fruitland (8-10-1) and the Community School (14-3-1) vs. Teton (8-5-2).

     Fruitland and Teton were play-in winners, Fruitland over Timberlake and Teton beating Aberdeen.

     Championship game is Saturday at 12 noon at SunWay Complex.

 

 

 




About Comments

Comments with content that seeks to incite or inflame may be removed.

Comments that are in ALL CAPS may be removed.

Comments that are off-topic or that include profanity or personal attacks, libelous or other inappropriate material may be removed from the site. Entries that are unsigned or contain signatures by someone other than the actual author may be removed. We will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or any other policies governing this site. Use of this system denotes full acceptance of these conditions. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.

The comments below are from the readers of mtexpress.com and in no way represent the views of Express Publishing, Inc.

You may flag individual comments. You may also report an inappropriate or offensive comment by clicking here.

Flagging Comments: Flagging a comment tells a site administrator that a comment is inappropriate. You can find the flag option by pointing the mouse over the comment and clicking the 'Flag' link.

Flagging a comment is only counted once per person, and you won't need to do it multiple times.

Proper Flagging Guidelines: Every site has a different commenting policy - be sure to review the policy for this site before flagging comments. In general these types of comments should be flagged:

  • Spam
  • Ones violating this site's commenting policy
  • Clearly unrelated
  • Personal attacks on others
Comments should not be flagged for:
  • Disagreeing with the content
  • Being in a dispute with the commenter

Popular Comment Threads



 Local Weather 
Search archives:


Copyright © 2024 Express Publishing Inc.   Terms of Use   Privacy Policy
All Rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission of Express Publishing Inc. is prohibited. 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.