STATE HIGH SCHOOL SOCCER TOURNAMENTS: On a collison course ... Lake City boys eye first state title since 1998 starting today in Eagle

By JASON ELLIOTT

Sports writer

Mentally, it’s right where the Lake City boys soccer team wants to be.

At state, with a little bit of a chip on its shoulder.

This morning, the team begins its fight for the team’s first state title since 1998.

5A BOYS: Lake City is the fifth seed in this week’s tournament, opening against Rocky Mountain (13-2-1) of Meridian today at 8 a.m. at Eagle High.

Lake City, which lost in the third-place game last year, is 15-0-0.

“We’re in a good spot right now,” Lake City senior midfielder Noah Waddell said. “We’ve been working at this all year, have all the pieces in place and are ready to go.”

Defensively, Lake City has allowed five goals this season.

“We’ve got a bit of everything this year,” Lake City senior midfielder Connor Jump said. “We’re ready to go to that next level for sure.”

Second-year Timberwolves coach Kevin Jump believes so as well.

“We knew at the start of the year we had the players and talent to get it done,” Kevin Jump said. “We just had to get through the season healthy, and we did that. We want to make some noise and these boys can do it for sure.”

Defending champion Timberline (15-2-2) of Boise — the second seed — opens against Borah (10-4-4) of Boise — in the final game of today.

5A GIRLS: Entering the Region 1 tournament as the third seed for the first time since 2008, the Timberwolves had to win twice on the road, first at rival Coeur d’Alene, then again at Lewiston, which had beaten the Timberwolves twice in the regular season.

Lake City’s Emily Medina scored in overtime on a goal, which deflected off a Lewiston player into the net. The Bengals lost a play-in match on Saturday to Centennial of Boise 2-0.

“The resilience that this group has had the last two weeks, I just couldn’t be prouder of them,” Lake City coach Matt Ruchti said. “They deserve everything they get. It’s been a rewarding season, even if it hasn’t been the type of season that we expected.”

Lake City was 6-6-0 after a shootout loss to Clarkston on Sept. 30 at the Marimn Health Coeur Center in Worley. The team has since won three straight matches entering today’s opener against Timberline (13-3-2) of Boise.

“After that match, we just talked about the little moments and doing the little things,” Ruchti said. “We told them, if you do that, you’ll achieve those big things. And they took that to heart three weeks ago. It’s been a fun little ride the last three weeks. We’ve had to rely on everyone, and they’ve all stepped up.”

Lake City has won state 5A titles in 2012, 2016 and 2021 under Ruchti.

“We told our players three weeks ago that they needed to show up each day in training, and don’t just be there, and work hard each day,” Ruchti said. “And they’ve shown up each and every day. We told them, if you put in that work, you’ll be there in October, and they figured it out. We’ve done well in the north, but have represented the north at the next level really well in the last couple of years. We’re hoping to be able to do the same this year as well.”

Boise won last year’s tournament.

3A BOYS: Coeur d’Alene Charter, seeded seventh, opens against second seeded Sun Valley Community School (16-0-2) today at Vallivue High in Caldwell.

The Panthers (11-5-3) advanced after finishing second in the District 1-2 tournament last week at The Fields at Real Life Ministries in Post Falls.

Sugar-Salem (16-1-1), the top seed, is aiming for its third straight title.

“Both Sugar-Salem and Sun Valley are the favorites on paper,” third-year Coeur d’Alene Charter coach Craig Daigle said. “Both are strong on both sides of the ball. Our size and speed look to be one of many challenges for us as we field a young team.”

Bonners Ferry (14-3-1) is the third seed and faces American Falls (13-3-3) in the opening round.

3A GIRLS: Coeur d’Alene Charter, in its 11th straight trip to state, enters as the fourth seed having won 10 straight matches since a 3-1 loss to Freeman on Sept. 18.

“I always believe that we could be a contender for the state title,” said Coeur d’Alene Charter coach Stacy Smith, who led the Panthers to five straight titles from 2016 to 2020 . “I know that Sugar-Salem and Kimberly have had very commanding seasons. I would also never count out Sun Valley (Community School). They are well coached and a well-disciplined team, so they’ll be quite a tough first round matchup for us. But not something to be intimidated by.”

Coeur d’Alene Charter, which has lost in its opening round match the last two seasons, has won the consolation title in 2021 and 2022.

Charter opens with Sun Valley Community School, the fifth seed in this year’s tournament.

“Sun Valley has scored a lot of goals this season, plus they are the defending state champions,” Smith said. “I think we’ll need to be sure to be crisp and play quickly. Plus, we’ll need to make sure to take advantage of our own goal scoring opportunities.”

Charter returns three starters from last year’s team.

“We’ll need every player to manage her role on the team to the best of her ability,” Smith said. “We’ll need to finish opportunities in front of the goal and be patient when defending. It will be a bit of a hill to climb, but totally climbable. I always look forward to the competition that state brings. It allows for a coach to see what their team is really made of when we’re this late into the season and there’s a trophy on the line.”

4A BOYS: Sandpoint (9-4-0), which beat Moscow in the Region 1 championship match last week, open at state against third-seeded Caldwell (13-1-3) today at Brothers Fields in Caldwell.

The Cougars are the defending champions, beating Bishop Kelly in last year’s championship match.

Sandpoint won the consolation title last year at The Fields at Real Life Ministries in Post Falls.

4A GIRLS: Sandpoint (8-5-3), the fourth seed, opens with fifth-seeded Skyline (10-4-5) in the first match at Brothers Fields in Caldwell.

Sandpoint fell in the third-place match on penalty kicks to Pocatello in 2022.