STATE 5A BOYS SOCCER TOURNAMENT: Vikings 'bunker and counter'

POST FALLS — The final try in the penalty-kick shootout rolled harmlessly to the side of the net, and goalkeeper Shawn McKeeken and his Coeur d’Alene Vikings teammates raced toward each other in celebration.

“We did it,” McKeeken said, after the Vikings upended the Centennial Patriots of Boise 4-3 on penalty kicks, following a 1-all draw after regulation and the two overtimes, in a semifinal match of the state 5A boys soccer tournament Friday afternoon at Post Falls High.

“We’ve been trying so hard for this,” said McKeeken, a junior. “It felt so good, actually winning, and we’re going to the championship. We’re such a young team, with two seniors. It’s just the best feeling ever.”

Coeur d’Alene (10-1-5), which reached its first state title game since 2003, and will face Boise (15-3-1) today at 11 a.m. on its home field at Coeur d’Alene High. Centennial (15-3-2) will play Rocky Mountain (12-4-3) of Meridian for third place today at 12:30 at Post Falls High. Boise defeated Rocky 2-1 in overtime in the other semifinal.

Coeur d’Alene won with a defensive strategy, packing players in front of the net while Centennial tried to attack from the outside.

“That was our best opportunity to win the match,” Coeur d’Alene coach Jeff Lake said. “We knew they would have the possession going into the game. It didn’t shock us at all that they out-possessed us probably 90 percent of the game.”

In the shootout, Coeur d’Alene went first, with Austin Garitone converting.

McKeeken made lunging saves on Centennial’s first two PKs. But Coeur d’Alene missed its next two, the second coming when the Viking player took a divot because of the poor field conditions around the ball.

But the next five players scored, capped by a left-footed shot by Gerre Spencer of Centennial that made it inside the right post despite McKeeken getting a slight piece of it.

The teams went to a sudden-death shootout. Gabe Nazemi booted a right-footed shot inside the right post, and when the Centennial player pulled his attempt to the left of the goal, the Vikings celebrated.

“It was obvious, watching them, they gave everything they had,” Lake said. “And it was enough today.”

McKeeken deflected the credit for his role in the win, just as he deflected away shot after shot by Centennial, finishing with 17 saves in a splendid performance. He also was the fifth shooter for Coeur d’Alene in the first round of the shootout, and his goal put the Vikings ahead 3-2 in the shootout and put the onus the Patriots to make their final try to force sudden death.

Centennial controlled possession throughout — something the Vikings had prepared for. Coeur d’Alene responded by dropping as many as eight players back in front of the net, And while Centennial poked and prodded and sent balls in mostly from the corners, the Vikings did a good job keeping the Patriots from getting off a lot of good attempts once the ball neared McKeeken.

“I was just trying to take all the responsibility that I could,” McKeeken said. “I knew it was going to be a struggle to win this. They love playing their wings, and getting the ball in, and we knew that they weren’t the strongest in the middle. They’re a really good team out of the air, and we tried to take that away. We put really strong defense on them in the air, and they honestly didn’t get that many chances ... headers. It was our defense, keeping them away from the ball.”

And on the occasions Centennial got off a hard shot toward the goal, McKeeken made the right move for the save.

“He was pretty upset, and he should have been, in my personal opinion, in that he wasn’t first-team all-league,” said Lake of the all-5A Inland Empire League team, which is usually released following the state tournament. “It affected him to the point where you saw him work harder in training these past couple of days, and I think today proves that if he’s not the best, he’s one of the best keepers in the state, regardless of how the voting went at the coaches’ meeting.”

Some call the maneuver “park the bus” in front of the net. Others call it “bunker and counter.” Whatever, it worked.

“Soccer is not all about possession,” Lake said. “It’s about quality possession. We’re so organized in the back. Yesterday (in a 5-1 win over Bonneville), it was a different tactical game. We knew yesterday we would have the lion’s share of the possession and we knew today ... we knew Alex (Draghici), and we knew who Manasse (Mbuyi) was, that’s who we were targeting to take out. The guys delivered.”

Coeur d’Alene scored on a counter in the 38th minute. Garitone — who later would save the ball off the line with the Vikings still in the lead midway through the second half — sent a ball down the right sideline for Dempsey Brewer. Brewer corralled it near the corner and worked his way in, but was still near the end line when he unleashed a shot from some 15 yards out.

He had almost no angle, but fitted the ball through a slot between Centennial keeper T.J. Terrall and the near post. The ball zoomed past the keeper and inside the far post for the goal.

Centennial’s goal came after McKeeken slipped on a goalie kick, and Casey Sturtevant corralled it just past the top of the box. He worked the ball to Draghici, a midfielder who drilled a right-footed shot past McKeeken in the 68th minute.

Scoring chances were few in the two 10-minute sudden-death overtimes.

For the shootout, both keepers opted for the end of the field with a couple of patches of mud in the front of the net that had received the Diamond-Dry treatment before the game. One spot was at the 12-yard mark, where the penalty kicks would be taken from, which made footing a bit treacherous for the shooters and affected at least one of the PKs. But the footing for the keepers on the goal line was much better than at the other end, which had standing water.

“That’s soccer, sometimes,” Centennial coach Scott Lewis said. “We dominated the game, but they get one goal, and it changes the whole game. It’s tough; they bunkered in, defended well and we couldn’t get one in. They defended very well. They’ve got big, strong defenders that were good in the air. Very compact.”

First half — 1, Cd’A, Dempsey Brewer (unassisted), 38:00. Second half — 2, Cent, Alex Draghici (unassisted), 68:00. First overtime — none. Second overtime — none. Shootout goals — Cd’A, Austin Garitone, Jason Lukes, Shawn McKeeken, Gabe Nazemi. Cent, Skyler Kjellander, Alex Draghici, Gerre Spencer.

Shots on goal — unavailable.

Saves — Cen, T.J. Terrall unavailable; Cd’A, Shawn McKeeken 17.