STATE SOCCER TOURNAMENTS: State 5A soccer heads north

5A

BOYS

at Post Falls,

Coeur d’Alene High

Defending champion: Timberline (Boise)

Notes: Since the Idaho High School Activities Association began sponsoring state soccer tournaments in 2000, only one North Idaho team has captured a state title — Post Falls in 2012, when the 5A tourney was also held in North Idaho. Boise-area schools have won every other title with the exception of Idaho Falls in 2003. ... Centennial won the District 3 title this year ... Coeur d’Alene earned its first state tournament berth since 2010, coach Jeff Lake’s first season as the Vikings’ coach, after a 3-2 win over Lake City in the 5A Region 1 championship. Striker Austin Garitone, who’s Coeur d’Alene’s leading scorer, has scored 13 goals and is the team’s third all-time leading scorer in terms of points in a season, with 35. Garitone scored the golden goal in the second overtime, so he’s a clear threat to put the ball in the back of the net ... forward Gabe Nazemi and midfielder Justin Kofmehl provide added goal scoring and passing punch ... Goalkeeeper Shawn McKeeken, who made seven saves in the Region title game, is an athletic and aggressive player who can boot the ball strongly and fairly accurately on goal kicks ... Lake City advanced to its fourth straight state tournament appearance by beating Timberline High of Boise in a shootout on Oct. 15 at Payette High ... The Timberwolves (8-7-1) open the tournament against Boise today at 2 p.m. at Post Falls High ... “We’ve been really working on a team-first mentality all year long,” first-year Lake City coach Alan Rich said. “I’m really proud of how they showed up in the play-in game.” ... Boise finished runner-up to Post Falls at Coeur d’Alene High in 2012 and has won four state titles, the last coming in 2013.

GIRLS

at Lake City High, Coeur d’Alene High

Defending champion: Centennial High of Boise.

Notes: Centennial beat Lake City in a penalty kick shootout to win last year’s tournament at Rocky Mountain High in Meridian. The last time the state tournament was up north, Lake City won in a penalty kick shootout over Post Falls at Coeur d’Alene High, site of this year’s title game. “We’ve got a few players that can use the time off,” said Lake City coach Matt Ruchti, who is in his 14th year at the school. “We’ve talked about moments, and having big moments instead of championships this year. We play in big-time games and have big-time players that are going to show up in big moments. And it’s going to be difficult, but that’s OK. They’re going to do everything they can, and if something’s hard, you don’t look at it as a negative. You learn from these moments and our girls are ready for the challenge.” Lake City will open the tournament on its home field against Highland High of Pocatello today at 9 a.m. “Part of our mantra is to win your battles, do your job, and have a great effort all the way through the match,” Ruchti said ... Centennial, this year’s District 3 champs, has won back-to-back titles, also winning in 2014 ... No girls team has won three straight state titles dating back to when the tournament started in 2000. ... Coeur d’Alene, in 2006, is the only other non-Boise-area school to win a 5A girls title since 2000.

4A

at Idaho Falls Soccer Complex

BOYS

Defending champion: Century of Pocatello.

Notes: Century beat Lakeland High for the program’s first state title in school history ... Lakeland failed to advance to state, with Sandpoint winning the Region 1 title at Moscow ... It is the Bulldogs first trip to state since 2012, when Sandpoint won its eighth state title since 2000.

GIRLS

Defending champion: Preston

Notes: Sandpoint beat Lakeland last week in the Region 1 title game to nab the region’s lone berth to state. Sandpoint went two and out at state last year, after winning state titles in 2013 and ‘14. The Bulldogs have won seven state titles since 2000.

3A

at Sunway Soccer Complex,

Twin Falls

BOYS

Defending champions: Weiser

Notes: Bonners Ferry, winners of 12 straight District championships open the tournament against Community School of Sun Valley ... The Badgers (9-5-1) finished third at state in 2012 and won the state title under current coach Wayne Wilkerson in 2007 and finishing runner-up in 2010.

GIRLS

Defending champions: Weiser

Notes: Coeur d’Alene Charter has played in the last two state title games, beating Timberlake in 2014 and losing to Weiser last year. As a junior last year, Lauren Bouvia of Weiser scored a national high school record 127 goals, including a hat trick in a 4-1 win in the title game. This year Bouvia, who has verbally committed to UC-Davis, comes into state with “only” 92 goals. This year, Charter and Weiser could meet in the semifinals. ... First-year Cd’A Charter coach Stacy Smith teaches seventh-grade math and eighth-grade civics at the school, so she had some of the current players in class several years ago. Plus, she coached a few of them with the Coeur d’Alene Sting club program. Smith succeeded Dave Baxter, who started the program and coached the first four seasons. Smith coached his daughter at Lake City when she was a freshman, before Charter started its program. “I know that he and I look at formations and strategies a little differently,” Smith said. “I really tried to get us to work on connecting passes, and looking for pattern plays throughout the game, so the tactical side of it, but understanding that we’re not a 5A school, so we do need to work on the technical side of our game too. So balancing that out in practice was always important.” ... Timberlake, third last year after losing to Charter in the semifinals, is on the other side of the bracket. “We’ll see them again,” Timberlake coach Steve Michael said of Charter.