5A REGION 1 GIRLS SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP: Back to form — second in league, Lake City captures eighth straight regional title

COEUR d'ALENE — On Sept. 22, the Coeur d'Alene Vikings knocked off the Lake City Timberwolves 2-0 to clinch the 5A Inland Empire League title for the first time since 2009.

On Tuesday, Lake City returned the favor.

Taytum Curtis scored in the first half and Lily Tweedy added one in the second half for the Timberwolves, who beat the Vikings 2-0 in the 5A Region 1 girls soccer championship at Coeur d'Alene High, giving Lake City its eighth straight regional title.

Coeur d'Alene edged Lake City 2-1 in the first matchup between the schools on Sept. 9 at Lake City High.

"We just couldn't connect or finish in our last game," said Tweedy, a senior. "We couldn't stop their goals because of mistakes we made."

Lake City switched to a 3-5-2 formation, allowing for more help in the midfield.

"We did a good job of fixing our formation and playing a lot better," Tweedy said. "This one was a lot tougher to get because we had to play on the road and had a few things that we had to battle through."

"She felt bad for the last time we played them," Lake City coach Matt Ruchti said. "I thought we were outstanding in every aspect of the game — defending the goal, middle of the field."

Lake City (11-3) will open play at the state 5A tournament against Timberline of Boise, the third-place team from District 3 (Boise area), next Thursday at Coeur d'Alene High starting at 11:30 a.m.

Coeur d'Alene (9-2-2) faces the fifth-place team from District 3 in a state play-in match on Saturday at 2 p.m. PDT at Middleton High.

Curtis, who moved from midfielder to forward, opened the scoring on an assist from Georgia Whitehead in the 17th minute for Lake City.

"I just saw an opportunity and capitalized on it," said Curtis, a junior. "The new positioning really helped us out. I think it's going to help us a lot."

"Taytum has been building to this all season," Ruchti said. "She started a little slow and has found her way in the last week. I'm really proud of that kid."

Lake City secured its 11th straight trip to the state tournament.

"This program has been built on the traditions of players, and some great players," Ruchti said. "And this group is no different than those groups. Coeur d'Alene has had an outstanding season and did really well against us. But I told our group that there's games in August, games in September and games in October. And we've built a tradition on what we've done in October. Take nothing away from Coeur d'Alene, they're a great team and we expect to see them in the state tournament. (Coeur d'Alene coach) Andy (Vredenburg) does an outstanding job with that team."

"We worked on some things and finishing this week in training," Ruchti said. "We worked combination plays in the final third of the field, getting the ball played inside the box and getting the ball inside the frame, and that's what we did."

Coeur d'Alene won the consolation championship at state in 2019.

"They just came out ready to play," Vredenburg said. "They just played with more passion, and that showed up throughout the game. Hats off to them. They played a great game and deserved to win."

Coeur d'Alene's two wins over Lake City gave the Vikings the top seed to regionals and the right to host the championship match.

"Each game against these guys, they're tough games," Vredenburg said. "It's always tough to beat a team three times in a row, especially a team like Lake City that we know so well. They came out ready to play and got the better of us. We're not done and we're focusing on another game on Saturday."

First half — 1, LC, Taytum Curtis (Georgia Whitehead), 17:00. Second half — 2, LC, Lily Tweedy (Kayla Dearmin), 68:00.

Shots on goal — LC 9, Cd'A 4.

Saves — LC, Hailey Jo Parks 4; Cd'A, Autumn Lambert 7.