PREP SOCCER: Lakeland boys in, Lake City boys out of play-in round

By JASON ELLIOTT 

Sports writer 

Lakeland’s boys are in. 

Lake City’s out. 

Those were the results of those teams on the fence for state high school soccer play-in matches on Wednesday morning. 

Lakeland (7-7), seeded third in the 5A Region 1 tournament, upset Moscow in the semifinals before falling to top-seeded Sandpoint on Tuesday. The Hawks, who finished seventh in the MaxPreps rankings, will host eighth-ranked Columbia (13-6-2) on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Sunrise Rotary Field in Rathdrum. 

Lakeland is bidding for its first trip to state since 2015.

Moscow (8-9), which was ninth in the final rankings, will travel to fourth-seeded Jerome (12-2-2) in a play-in on Saturday. 

Lake City (8-7), finished ninth in the final MaxPreps rankings, which are being used to seed the state tournament this year, as well as determine play-in matchups. Highland (9-8-2), the District 4-5-6 runner-up was guaranteed a home date, and will host sixth-ranked Owyhee (9-5-4) of Nampa in a play-in match on Saturday in Pocatello. 

Owyhee was the highest ranked team of the non-automatic qualifiers after seventh-ranked Borah (8-6-3) and eighth-seeded Eagle (8-6-4) nabbed the other two at-large bids. 

Tournaments will be reseeded after the play-in matches have been completed to determine matchups to state next week. 

Coeur d’Alene’s girls (9-5), which finished ranked fifth, will travel to 14th ranked Madison (9-8-2) of Rexburg in their play-in match, as the Bobcats were also guaranteed a host spot. Rocky Mountain (12-7-1) of Meridian will host eighth-ranked Eagle (11-6-1) in the other play-in. 

The 6A boys tournament will be held at Hillcrest High in Ammon. The 6A girls tournament is at Bonneville High. 

Sandpoint’s girls (9-7-1) fell in the 5A Region 1 championship match 1-0 to Moscow on Tuesday at War Memorial Field and will host ninth-ranked Idaho Falls (10-8-1) in a play-in match on Saturday. Third-seeded Wood River (12-4-2) hosts 12th ranked Skyview (11-6) and Pocatello (14-5-1) hosts 10th ranked Jerome (11-7-1) in the other play in game. 

The state 5A tournament is next Thursday to Saturday at the Field of Dreams Complex in Ponderay. 

Coeur d’Alene Charter’s girls (13-4-2), ranked 12th will travel to fifth-ranked McCall-Donnelly for a play-in on Saturday. In the other play-in matches, No. 6 Sun Valley Community School (13-4) hosts No. 10 Preston (13-5-1) and seventh-ranked Teton (9-5-2) plays host to ninth-ranked Wendell (11-7-1). 

Bonners Ferry (11-4-1), which finished 10th, will travel to second-seeded Sugar-Salem (13-2-2) in a play-in. Other 4A boys play-in matches are No. 5 Fruitland (11-4-1) hosting No. 9 South Fremont (11-5-1) and No. 6 Ambrose (10-3-2) of Meridian playing host to eighth-ranked Wendell (12-3-3). 

The 4A boys tournament is next Thursday through Saturday at Twin Falls High. The 4A girls tournament is at Burley High.