Setting the tone, one training at a time

For a team coming off back-to-back appearances in the state 5A girls soccer championship game, Lake City didn’t necessarily need a prolific goal scorer to make a run at a third-straight appearance.

A state title in 2016.

Runner-up finish in 2017.

But nobody was complaining when the Timberwolves added midfielder/forward Maddy Lasher, a transfer from Post Falls High.

“It was a really big change,” Lasher said. “Coming here from Post Falls, it was such a big step up. Practices were way more intense and gamedays were like ‘it’s go time, and we’re in it to win it’ ... Here, it’s a whole other mentality.”

Lasher played as a freshman and sophomore at Post Falls before her parents moved to Coeur d’Alene, opening the door to transfer to Lake City.

“I wasn’t complaining that I had to come here to play soccer,” Lasher said. “It ended up being a good fit for me. The other players were open to me and excited for me to come here as well.”

Madyson Smith, a senior midfielder/forward, was also pretty happy to have Lasher in the Lake City lineup.

“Every time we’d play Post Falls, she’d be one of the players we’d have to watch,” Smith said. “We were thinking ‘oh gosh, we’ve got somebody new,’ and trying to figure out how this was going to work.”

Lasher recalled those early matchups with Lake City on the opposite side of the field.

“It was definitely an eye-opener when we’d play them,” Lasher said. “They were way more put together than us. They were teammates to each other and knew what they were doing on the field. Every time we played Lake City, we knew it was going to be a challenge.”

As far as facing her, Smith added it was a challenge.

“It’s always a little nerve-wracking playing against anybody,” Smith said. “Maddy was just as quick then as she is now. She’s always been a little bigger than I am, but was just another day on the field. I was looking at some pictures of us playing against each other, but never had the job of defending her on the field.”

Lasher recently had five goals in a 5A Inland Empire League match at Lewiston on Sept. 28. She has 18 goals and five assists on the season.

“It’s not only been fun coming here, but it has bettered me as a person,” Lasher said. “Looking at it in a different perspective, I love playing with teammates that are like friends. It’s a different mentality, but coming here has helped me more as a person than a player.”

As for state success, Lake City finished third in 5A last fall, Lasher’s first year with the Timberwolves, Smith’s third on varsity.

Lasher has verbaled to the University of Idaho next fall.

“I’m really excited,” Lasher said. “I’m going to pursue a career in physical therapy, and I’m really excited about that. A lot of players from my club team (Spokane Sounders) are going to be playing there as well.”

For Smith — who has five goals and five asssists this year — she has verbaled to NAIA College of Idaho in Caldwell next fall. There, Smith will be reunited with Lake City product Chloe Teets.

“I want to study to either be a pharmacist or physiology, but something in the medical field for sure,” Smith said. “I love playing with Chloe, and that’s another reason why I wanted to go there. I know the coach (Brian Smith), and really like the coach. The whole atmosphere there is really nice. I go to the Boise area a lot because I play on a club team down there as well. Having it feel like a second home really comforted me about going there.”

As for why Lasher chose Idaho?

“I just knew from the start that it was the right fit for me,” Lasher said. “Their coaches were so welcoming and also, I wanted to get a little ways from home, but not too far. The community down there, it’s so opening and I know a lot of people down there. It’s not going to be brand new, but I’ll be meeting some new people as well.”

“They play hard,” Lake City coach Matt Ruchti said. “With the way that they train and play, they’re consistent. They have a high rate in how they do that, and it really sets us in motion.”

For Lasher, she got into soccer to follow in the footsteps of some in her family.

“My older sister (Savannah, a 2012 Post Falls High graduate) and mom (Sarah) have always played soccer, and I’ve always looked up to my sister who played soccer,” Lasher said. “Seeing her play, and she played the same position (midfield) that I play, so that made it enjoyable for me. When I got to this point, I knew I wanted to take this to the next level.”

And while Smith played a variety of different sports, it was soccer that stuck with her.

“My parents as I was growing up had me play every sport,” Smith said. “And soccer was just the one I connected with the most. It was the one I had a passion for and wanted to get better at every day.”

If it wasn’t for soccer, Smith added she’d probably be doing a running sport.

“I’d probably be doing either track or cross country,” Smith said. “I ran cross country in middle school, and I was really good at it. But I didn’t like it. I tried to do it in high school, but club soccer got in the way.”

For Lasher, she’d likely play basketball.

“I played basketball starting in the second grade and played until my sophomore year of high school,” Lasher said. “That’s when I had to choose what sport I wanted to keep playing, and I chose soccer. It was time. I knew if I wanted to pursue playing soccer in college, I had to give all my focus to that.”

Lake City (9-2) opens the 5A Region 1 tournament on Saturday at home against Lewiston at the Irma Anderl Soccer Complex.

Both Lasher and Smith have similar, but a little different, pregame ritual.

“Most of the time, I’ll go to Winco and get the same croissant sandwich,” Lasher said. “Before each game, it’s such a music sesh, and we jam out with all of our friends. It just gets us ready to play and focused on the match.”

Both said Ruchti was instrumental to finding success on the field.

“He’s really pushed me to not only be a good player, but step up and be a good leader as well,” Lasher said. “He’s hard on me, but I like that. It really pushes me to be a better player. When he yells at me, and I step up, for the other players, it’s an indication that if I can get yelled at, then they’ve got to get going too. He’s hard, but a good hard.”

“I’m the type of player that I’m in my own head a lot,” Smith said. “He’s just told me to be confident in myself, get out of my own head and just go out and play. He’s told me not to think as much and encourage others on the field.”

As for the state tournament this fall, both know there’s still work to be done.

“We always want to win, but also have to focus on each game,” Smith said. “It would be good to get another state title, but we’ve got to focus on each match. We’re more focused and worried about performing now, at regionals, and not what the Boise schools are doing. We’re just focused on what we need to do now and get ready to play.”

“The last couple of games, I’m really excited with the way we’ve been playing,” Lasher said. “Hopefully we can keep that going in the next couple of games.”

“They come to play every day,” Ruchti said. “They might have their days when they don’t play well, but their focus and training is always right on point. The presence of them on the field is great. We never put them together in training because they set the tone for whatever group they are in. We’re fortunate to have them. They’ve continued that tradition and we’re starting to see the juniors feed off that.”