Questions answered
<p>Timberlake High goal keeper Malin Bergenholm collides with Taylor Huber from Kellogg High as she tries to gain control of the ball in the second half.</p>
<p>Timberlake High's Traci Wall hugs her teammate as the rest of her team celebrates their win against Kellogg High in the 3A Region 1 tournament championship game Thursday in Rathdrum.</p>
RATHDRUM — In just their third season with a girls soccer program, the Timberlake Tigers are headed to their first state tournament, starting next Thursday in Twin Falls.
Timberlake scored two goals late in the first half and held on late against the Kellogg Wildcats in a 3-1 win Thursday in the 3A District 1-2 championship game at Hico Field.
“This feeling is great,” Timberlake coach Steve Michaels said. “The girls deserved to win this one. We really answered some questions about ourselves and the entire league today. We showed we’re the undisputed No. 1 team in the league and we’ve got a few more games ahead next week.”
Senior midfielder Caitlyn Nichols opened the scoring in the 39th minute for Timberlake (10-3-3), which opens state 3A tourney play Thursday at 1 p.m. PDT at the Sunway Soccer Complex in Twin Falls. The Tigers will open against the winner of a Saturday play-in game between Teton (13-3-1) and the District 5 runner-up.
Kellogg (6-5-3) will face Payette, the second-place team from District 3, in a play-in match Saturday at 2 p.m. in Lewiston.
Timberlake, which lost a state play-in match in its inaugural season two years ago, went 7-0-3 in the Intermountain League this season to enter this week’s tournament as the top seed.
“The last two years have been huge for our program,” said Michaels, who started the program. “Hats off to Kellogg and coach Steve (Mills). This was a good, clean game. They’re a good team.”
Junior striker Sierra Michaels — the coach’s daughter — scored on a header just before the end of the first half to give Timberlake a 2-0 lead.
“It’s huge,” Sierra Michaels said. “This is the biggest thing I’ve been a part of. I couldn’t sleep all week in anticipation of this moment. Our team deserved this.”
Junior forward Sam Simmons scored an unassisted goal in the 80th minute for Timberlake to put the match out of reach.
“We did this for ourselves and for all of those who said we could win,” Simmons said.
Taylor Huber scored in the 56th minute for Kellogg to cut Timberlake’s lead to 2-1. Shortly before the Tigers’ final goal, a Kellogg shot bounced off the crossbar.
“We kind of had a mental breakdown toward the end of the first half,” Kellogg coach Steve Mills said. “It’s too bad, our play in the second half was fantastic today. We had a lot of chances at it, but we got toward desperation time and it got away from us. If we keep playing like we’ve been on Saturday, this will only be a bump in the road right now.”
First half — 1, TL, Caitlyn Nichols (unassisted), 39:00. 2, TL, Sierra Michaels (Sam Simmons), 40:00. Second half — 3, Kell, Taylor Huber (unassisted), 56:00. 4, TL, Sam Simmons (unassisted), 80:00.
Shots on goal — Kell 9, TL 20.
Saves — Kell, Marah Ashcraft 16. TL, Malin Bergenholm 7.