For the week of  Sept. 26 - Oct. 2, 2001

Cutthroats keep marching toward state

Winning streak lengthens 
in league action

---

No love was lost between The Community School and Mountain Home soccer teams.

Angry words were exchanged after Saturday’s 8-0 Cutthroat victory, based on several incidents during the heat of the battle on the Sagewillow Farms field at Elkhorn.

Then there was history brewing under the surface—last year’s 6-4 Mountain Home home win, and those 2-1 and 2-0 Tiger victories that ousted The Community School boys from the State A-3 soccer tournament in both 1997 and 1996.

Most of all, there was frustration on the part of Mountain Home. They controlled the ball well and outshot the Cutthroats by an astounding 33-20 margin—but never scored a goal.

That was mainly because of "Man of the Match" Drew Detwiler, the Cutthroat junior keeper who made save after save—many routine, but some on outstanding blocks that preserved the shutout.

Up front, Cutthroat senior striker Josh Stanek was a one-man scoring machine. Stanek tied the school’s all-time single-game scoring record with five goals in the 8-0 whitewash.

Three of the Stanek goals were individual forays past the outmatched Tiger defense.

But the third goal of the game, at 14 minutes, was a picture-perfect Nic Hanscom cross from the right wing that Stanek banged into the corner. Then, in the second half, Josh Sonneland’s picture-perfect lead pass sent Stanek in for his fifth goal.

Other Cutthroat scorers were Chadd Montgomery, Sean Higgins and Hanscom himself, on a header after a John Hayes corner kick. Hanscom, a senior, was making his 50th varsity start for the Cutthroats.

With key players like Chris Cook, Zac Brown and senior Josh Kantor sidelined with injuries, the Cutthroat defense nevertheless stepped it up. It featured sweeper Quinn Orb, stopper Luc McCann, left back Taylor Rothgeb and right back Ash Higgins.

Orb, a tower of strength all season, was "Man of the Match" last Wednesday in a 7-0 league victory at Filer. Stanek tallied three goals, Higgins two and Kantor one, and there was an own goal for the visitors.

Monday, the Cutthroats stretched their winning streak to nine with an easy 10-2 triumph over ISDB at Gooding.

"Man of the Match" Sean Higgins ended up with four goals and Stanek two. Singles were scored by Sonneland, Hayes, Hannes Thum (PK) and Bobby Flanigan (PK).

The Cutthroats are in the midst of a challenging stretch of eight games in 11 days—six league contests—including home games against Magic Valley Christian Friday, Declo Saturday and Buhl Monday.

Monday’s home contest against Buhl will be the final regular-season home varsity game for the Cutthroat—a finale for seniors Stanek, Orb, Hanscom, Josh Kantor, Montgomery and Blake Schnebly.

 

 

---

Stanek chases scoring records

Senior soccer standout

---

Can anybody stop Community School striker Josh Stanek?

Few teams have. Stanek’s recent scoring explosion (13 goals in the last four games) has put the crafty senior on track for several records.

Entering Tuesday’s home game against Wendell, Stanek (23 goals in just 11 games) was virtually certain of smashing the private school’s single-season scoring record of 25 goals.

Last fall Stanek tied the 25-goal record of Benji Hill (established in 18 games in 1990) and Reggie Crist (set in 15 games in 1986).

With perhaps 12 games left in the season, Stanek has an outside shot at the seemingly untouchable single-season Wood River Valley record of 47 goals set by Jason Southward for Wood River in 2000.

Then there is the career scoring record for The Community School. Hill holds the mark with 75 goals in four seasons. Going into yesterday’s Wendell game, Stanek had 64 (6 freshman, 10 sophomore, 25 junior, 23 so far as a senior).

Southward, now starting for Albertson College, scored 81 goals in just three Wood River seasons and was a member of two state title teams.

Saturday, Stanek scored five goals against Mountain Home, tying Sun Valley’s single-game record of five goals set by Hill twice, in the first two games of the 14-4 season of 1990.

Teamwise, coach Richard Whitelaw’s Cutthroats have scored 74 goals in 11 games and are certain of breaking the school mark of 79 goals established in the 14-1 State A-2 championship season of 1986.

 

 

 

---

Today's Community School-Twin Falls game

---

Twin Falls (8-1, 2-1 Region III 5A) at Community School (10-2, 9-0 Fourth District 3A)

 

Time—
5:00 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 26. Place—Browning Fields at Sagewillow Farms, Elkhorn.

Significance—
Only meeting between the best two teams in south-central Idaho, although they are in different divisions. Pretenders to the state championships in 2000, Twin Falls and The Community School are both seeking to move up and earn a berth in the 2001 state championships games in their divisions. By the way, many of the Twin Falls players were on the 1999 squad that lost the State A-2 soccer championship to Wood River 2-1 in double overtime, in Twin Falls.

Last week—
The Community School, winners of 10 straight games, beat Filer 7-0, Mountain Home 8-0 and ISDB 9-0. After seven straight wins, Twin Falls dropped its first game, a 2-0 league loss at Pocatello, but bounced back Saturday with a 4-1 home win over a decent Burley squad (6-2-1). In its loss at Pocatello, Twin Falls outshot the Indians 16-3.

Preview—
Twin Falls, starting nine seniors, has outscored its opponents 41-4 and beaten Wood River twice, 7-0 and 6-0. The Bruins take pride in their fierce defense, throwing a blanket over their opponents’ best players. They are led in scoring by native Bosnian Sanjin Hadzic, a skilled junior striker who has been nursing a hamstring injury. In addition, they have lost the services of strong senior forward Matt McFarlin (code of conduct violation). But Twin Falls has other seniors like Brock Cooper, Cory Sayre and Dylan Sinclair who will be looking to stop top Cutthroat scorer Josh Stanek. If Twin Falls can stop Stanek, other Cutthroats like Sean Higgins, Josh Sonneland and Nic Hanscom will have to step up and score if The Community School is to win.

Coach Richard Whitelaw’s outlook—
"This is the game everyone has been looking at. It will be a barometer on our season."

Last year—
Host Twin Falls blanked The Community School 2-0.

History—
Twin Falls leads the 18-game series dating back to 1985 by an 11-7 margin, including four shutouts. The Bruins have outscored the Cutthroats 55-33. Although the Cutthroats had a 5-3 advantage over Twin Falls from 1985-90, the Bruins have dominated ever since, winning eight of 10 games. The only Cutthroat wins over the past decade have been in Twin Falls, by a 3-1 score in 1992 (Dates Fryberger 2, Benji Hill 1) and 2-0 in 1994 (Jeremy Karassik 1, Patrick Holman 1). The teams haven’t played every year, so Twin Falls has won two straight since 1994, both at home—by a 4-0 score in 1996 and 2-0 last fall.

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.