Lake City falls to Lewiston

COEUR d'ALENE - The top-seeded Lake City Timberwolves hadn't played a first half like the way they opened the 5A Region 1 girls soccer championship match on Saturday since they found themselves down at halftime in a 5A Inland Empire League match at Lewiston on Sept. 22.

Different day, but same result for the Timberwolves as they fell to the third-seeded Lewiston Bengals 2-0 at the Irma Anderl Soccer Complex. The win gave Lewiston its first regional girls title since starting the program in the fall of 1995.

Kellsi Parson opened the scoring in the 12th minute for Lewiston, scoring on an assist from Madison Taylor to take an early lead. Before the half, Taylor took a pass from Parson to give the Bengals a 2-0 lead.

"We weren't really prepared for this match today," Lake City coach Matt Ruchti said. "Lewiston worked really hard and deserved to win today."

Both teams had already qualified for state, and were playing Saturday for seeding.

Lake City could not find the goal in the second half as an empty net attempt by Alyssa Allen in the 44th minute was saved by a trio of Lewiston defenders, though it appeared to cross the line for a goal.

"We had the players in the right spot, but we just didn't finish," Ruchti said. "The ref has to do his job and we needed to react. We created chances today, but just couldn't finish."

Lake City (10-4-3) opens state against defending champion Boise (13-3-1) at 10:30 a.m. (PDT) on Thursday at Meridian High.

"We didn't do ourselves any favors by losing today," Ruchti said. "We've got to start with the defending state champs. We're going down there to win a state title. We've got to play them at some point. Hopefully we can get healthy by then."

Lake City lost freshman forwards Alissa Jolliff and Maddi Ward to injuries in the second half.

"We had some nagging things come up today," Ruchti said. "That kind of stuff happens. It makes it difficult, but we've got to push forward."

Lewiston (9-5-3) will open the state 5A tournament against Timberline (11-3-3) on Thursday at Meridian High.

"This feels great," Lewiston coach Alison Lathen said. "We played these guys last year at home and lost on penalty kicks. It's nice to get a trophy for the girls to bring home. We've got our work cut out for us next weekend. Last year, we had a chance to see how good the other teams were at state. Now we know what to expect and that always makes a difference."

First half - 1, Lew, Kellsi Parson (Madison Taylor), 12:00. 2, Lew, Taylor (Parson), 38:00. Second half - none.

Shots on goal - Lew 7, LC 8.

Saves - Lew, Emily Moscrip 8; LC, Brittany Amburn 5.