Club connection

The Post Falls High boys soccer team is shining in a different light.

Known as a program of ups and downs, the Trojans have hit a recent stride of success.

"I think the last three or four years the program has definitely grown," Post Falls coach Gabe Lawson. "Two years ago we were in state and we did better than we thought we'd do that year."

State begins Thursday.

Post Falls (16-0-2) will open the state 5A tournament against Centennial (8-4-5) of Meridian at Eagle High in Eagle at 1 p.m. (PDT). Lake City (9-6-2), which qualified as the second seed from Region 1, will face Mountain View (15-1-1) of Meridian in a quarterfinal at Rocky Mountain High in Meridian at 8 a.m.

Lakeland (11-4-3), making its first state appearance in school history, will face defending 4A boys champion Bonneville (16-2-0) of Idaho Falls in its opener at 10 a.m. at Brothers Field in Caldwell.

In the girls tournament, Lake City will open the 5A draw against defending champion Boise at 8 a.m. at Meridian High. Timberlake, which finished third in last year's 3A tournament in its first trip to state, opens with Teton at 1 p.m. at Vallivue High in Caldwell.

Championship matches on Saturday will be held at Rocky Mountain High in 5A, at Middleton High in 4A and at Syringa Middle School in Caldwell in 3A.

BOYS: Expectations were high for Post Falls last year, especially when the Trojans possessed the best overall record in the 5A Inland Empire League.

But, shockingly, the team missed state.

"We had a bit of a collapse at the end of the season," Lawson said. "We just had a hard time scoring goals but I felt we were headed in the right direction."

Post Falls will return to state for the second time in three years after qualifying for the first time in school history in 2009. The Trojans went two and out that year.

"We continue to have lots of players coming in from the (Idaho Thunder) club and we are developing some great players," Lawson said. "We are creating a place where players want to come and play. I've been here nine years and I can say this program is going in the right direction. These last three or four years have been really fantastic."

Lawson said the Idaho Thunder has had a big impact on his program.

"Lots of our players play for the Thunder," Lawson said. "It's a huge influence on those 18 on my team and those that didn't play are either playing basketball or wrestling. Everyone is involved with the program and they do super well. It is a matter of keeping everyone playing club over the past few years. It has made a big difference."

Lakeland has seven players that have played in the Thunder program.

"They have certainly helped develop our program into what it is today," Lakeland coach Nick Haynes said. "We currently have seven (of 11) starters coming from the Thunder program. Briggs (Anderson) and their other coaches have done a great job of building their club."

Lawson added that while they’re unbeaten, the Trojans will need to remained focused on each game.

“You want to look at it as a blessing, but it might not be,” Lawson said. “Everyone at state will be gunning for the unbeaten team. It’s going to be a very challenging tournament. Everyone’s going to be coming for us.”

Lake City defeated Coeur d’Alene 1-0 in a regional semifinal to qualify to state for the second straight season and sixth in eight seasons.

“I think we all know what it’s like down there now,” junior Vincent Cavalin said. “I think we’ll be able to play with a different mindset now that we’ve been there before.”

“Right now, it’s wide open,” said Lake City coach Chad Beadell of the tournament field. We’ve got the same info on everyone else down south that they’ve got on us.”

Last year, Lake City lost 4-3 in the semifinals to eventual state champion Borah, and finished fifth.

“Every game down there will be minute by minute,” Beadell said. “It’s going to take a complete team effort to win. But I’d rather play Mountain View first because you’re going to have to play a tough team regardless. Neither Boise or Centennial have missed a tournament either, so they should be pretty good also.”

Defending boys champion Borah (8-7-2) opens with Skyline (9-2-2) of Idaho Falls.

Lakeland punched its ticket to state with a 1-0 win over Sandpoint in the 4A Region 1 championship match.

“I think we’re going to do well,” Haynes said. “Whoever usually wins the 4A tournament up north usually does well. The boys are confident and playing well right now. We’re really excited right now.”

Lakeland won at defending regional champion Moscow to start its postseason run.

“We’re just so excited,” Haynes said. “It was a tough game up there. Sandpoint is a good team and to beat those guys and go to state is pretty exciting for us.”

Haynes also credits the work of leading scorer Colton Grytness and assist leader Alex Opland, both who spent time with the Thunder during the summer, with the team’s run toward state.

“Colton and Alex have both scored quite a few goals for us this season,” Haynes said. “But they’re using their teammates as well. They’ve been playing really well with each other. I think we’ve got a great shot (at state). Both of them committed themselves to getting better after school was over. They’ve really stepped up this year.”

Bonners Ferry (7-9-1) is the lone representative from District 1 in the boys 3A tournament and will face Filer (7-7-4) at Vallivue High in Caldwell. The Badgers are making their seventh straight trip to state.

GIRLS: Lake City is making its third straight appearance in the 5A tournament and 10th overall.

“We’ve had a lot of team speed this year,” Lake City coach Matt Ruchti said. “We haven’t had this much in a long time. A lot of it is youth, but our kids can play. We’ve also got great senior leadership this year. We’ve got a great group of players and I’m really proud of this group.”

Lewiston (9-5-3) defeated the Timberwolves in the Region 1 championship game to advance to face Timberline (11-3-3) of Boise in the final game on Thursday.

Timberlake won its second straight District 1-2 title with a 2-1 win over Kellogg last Saturday.

“This team has only been together four years,” Timberlake coach Steve Michael said. “To make it two out of four years is pretty impressive. We’ve had an up and down season, but the team is starting to move the ball around better and playing better possession soccer.”

Kellogg (9-2-3) will make its first state appearance, opening against Community School of Sun Valley.

Snake River, last year’s 3A girls champion, failed to qualify.