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Strength in numbers a key for Lake City boys

by Jason Elliott Sports Writer
| October 18, 2018 1:00 AM

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LOREN BENOIT/Press Lake City boys soccer coach Alan Rich hands the 5A Region 1 championship trophy to Spencer Messina, left, and the rest of the squad after they defeated Coeur d’Alene 3-0 on Oct. 10 at the Irma Anderl Soccer Complex. Lake City (13-2-0) opens the state 5A tournament against Boise (16-2-1) today at 1 p.m. PDT at the Idaho Falls Soccer Complex.

5A

BOYS

Call it keeping the opponent guessing or going with the hot hands.

Whatever it has been, it has been playing off for the Lake City boys soccer team this fall.

Lake City, which enters the state 5A tournament today with a 14-0 record, has relied on not one, but two different goalkeepers throughout the year.

“Honestly, we’ve got two goalkeepers that are great, and we rotate them each game,” third-year Lake City coach Alan Rich said. “They’re both solid keepers and they both respect each other. So when one of them isn’t mad when the other is playing.”

Goalkeepers are seniors Aidan Hassell and Chase Norris.

“Some people might think it’s a nice problem to have,” Rich said. “But it’s really difficut for me to only play one of those guys, because the other deserves to be in there.”

Lake City went 1-2 in its most recent appearance at state in 2016, falling in the opening round to Boise, which is the Timberwolves opponent when the tournament begins today at the Idaho Falls Soccer Complex.

“We definitely set a goal for ourselves to get to this point,” Lake City senior midfielder Nolan Meehan said following the Region 1 championship match on Oct. 10. “We knew we could accomplish it if we kept our heads up, we could get the job done.”

“We just work together as a unit pretty well,” Lake City senior striker Keaton Murphree said. “We’ve played together most of our lives in club ball and really work well together. I’m excited, but nervous at the same time. We just need to keep the energy up and working as a team.”

Coeur d’Alene (11-4) advanced to state in coach Braden Ridgewell’s first season at the helm, taking over for Jeff Lake, who coached the Vikings to the 2016 title match.

“This year, we’ve just been trying to get the guys to buy into playing a different form of soccer,” Ridgewell said. “It’s the kind of soccer you’d like to watch on television with a lot of high possession.”

Coeur d’Alene opens at state against Rocky Mountain (13-2-1) of Meridian today at 10 a.m. PDT at the Idaho Falls Soccer Complex.

Borah (8-6-3), which beat Post Falls in last year’s championship match, opens against Thunder Ridge (10-4-1), a new high school in Caldwell that opened this fall.

GIRLS

Lake City’s has seen its share of different outcomes in the last three trips to the girls state tournament.

Coming up short in a penalty kick shootout in 2015 in the championship match. Winning the same way in 2016.

Finishing fifth in 2017 after losing in the third-place match.

“Anything can happen once you get down there,” Lake City girls coach Matt Ruchti said. “We’ve been on the end of 0-2 and state championships, so anything can happen. We’ve done it every single way in this program, so we’re ready for it all.”

Lake City (13-2-0) opens with Eagle (10-7-0) today at 8 a.m. PDT at the Idaho Falls Soccer Complex.

“We’re going to have to go match by match,” said Teets, who hit the game-winning penalty kick as a sophomore to give the Timberwolves the 2016 state title. “We’ll need some of the new girls to step up in their first trip to state, but we’re all excited. We know we can do it, and hopefully we can have a repeat of my sophomore year.”

Centennial, the 2017 girls champion, failed to advance.

4A

Sandpoint (11-3-1) opens the state girls tournament against Vallivue (12-6-1) of Caldwell at the Irma Anderl Soccer Complex in Coeur d’Alene at 9 a.m.

The 4A boys and girls tournaments will be played at Post Falls, Lake City and Coeur d’Alene High starting today.

Championship matches are scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m. (girls) and 2 p.m. (boys) at Coeur d’Alene High.

Moscow (9-7-0), the Region 1 champion, opens against Middleton (15-3-1) today at 9 a.m. at Post Falls High.

3A

BOYS

After coming close the previous three seasons, Timberlake’s boys finally broke through in its sixth year, advancing to state for the first time in program history after beating St. Maries 2-1 in a District 1-2 semifinal match.

Then, they knocked Bonners Ferry from a run as regional champion for the first time since 2004.

“It’s huge for our program,” said Timberlake coach Steve Michael, who took over as boys coach in addition to being the girls coach this fall. “This group showed our youngsters how hard they’ve got to work. These guys have worked so hard to get here, I’m happy for them.”

Timberlake (11-6-0) opens at state today against Bliss at the Sunway Soccer Complex in Twin Falls starting at 1 p.m. PDT.

“Every single year, we’ve been so close,” Timberlake senior goalkeeper Sheldon Kistler said. “We’ve lost in the (district) semifinals, or the play-in match. I’m just so happy to bring this to Timberlake for the first time.”

Bonners Ferry (12-1-3) opens against McCall-Donnelly (6-11-1) today at 10 a.m.

GIRLS

Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy (18-0-0) is going for a three-peat.

“I feel like there’s a lot of pressure for that, so we’re going to take it one game at a time,” Panthers third-year coach Stacy Smith said.

Charter opens today at 10 a.m. PDT vs. Teton (11-5-0) at the Sunway Soccer Complex in Twin Falls.

The Panthers have given up just four goals all year, and have scored 124.

Not bad considering Charter is missing its starting goalkeeper, junior Mercedes Zepeda.

Zepeda missed the team’s first four games of the season while on a trip out of the country. Then, in warmups before the second matchup with Timberlake, she injured some tendons in her thumb.

“It’s not broken, but (doctors) wanted to cast it so she wouldn’t use it at all,” Smith said.

She’s missed the last seven games, leaving Smith scrambling to find someone in goal — while not disrupting the play on the field.

In last Saturday’s District 1-2 title game win over Timberlake, four different players saw time in goal, including center back Emma Bartlett, a former keeper.

“But we need her on the field,” Smith said.

“We’ve been rotating through the willing bodies — and some unwilling bodies (in goal),” Smith said. We’re still getting creative, with what we’re doing for state.”

Charter is making its sixth straight appearance at state. The Panthers have played in the title game each of the last four years, winning three times.

Timberlake (11-5-1) overcame some early season struggles to make it back to state for the fifth straight year.

“This team is still learning,” said coach Steve Michael, who started the program in 2008. “They’re young, they’re putting things together. Hopefully we’ll be able to figure some things out.”

Timberlake opens today at 1 p.m. PDT vs. Sun Valley Community School (18-0-0), which beat the Tigers 4-0 in last year’s consolation title game at state.

Full schedules can be found at www.cdapress.com.