Bull’s-eye too heavy for Payette to bare
By Scott Ford
Argus Observer
scottf@argusobserver.com
Friday, October 23, 2009 11:35 AM PDT
Caldwell—Being the defending state champion is not an easy thing to contend with, as every team is out to take the champ down. Thursday, the Payette Pirate boys soccer team felt that pressure and could not answer the call as it lost its opening game of the 2009 boys 3A state soccer tournament 4-3 against Sugar-Salem.
“We did not pressure the ball and they were just better than us,” Payette head coach Shaun Bolin said. “In the first half, we did a good job of pressuring the ball, but we did not do that in the second half.”
The game was deadlocked at the intermission, 1-1, and the Pirates came out in the second half and claimed an early advantage with a goal off the foot of senior Santiago Hernandez on a penalty kick to give the Pirates a 2-1 advantage.
However, Sugar-Salem came back with back-to-back goals for a 3-2 lead. Payette’s Joseph Bolin tied the contest at three, only to see Sugar-Salem add the eventual game winner with more than 10 minutes remaining in the contest.
Payette battled hard to tie the game in the final minutes of play but could not get a shot off against a pesky Sugar-Salem defense.
“The team who played better won. We didn’t play up to par, and that’s all there is to it,” Bolin said. “Some of the guys really hustled this game, but we lacked some communication. We didn’t win the 50-50 balls. It’s unfortunate, because we probably controlled the pace of the game 80 percent of the time. I don’t know the exact number, but we may have had three times as many shots on goal as they did.”
Payette’s first goal was scored by Evan Hershey in the first minute of play. Picking up assists for Payette were Kenny Kessler and Pepe Hernandez.
With the loss, the Pirates move into the consolation bracket where they will face Snake River today at 11 a.m.
“It’s state, and we should be disappointed,” Bolin said. “But we will bounce back from this loss and be ready to play.”
Weiser 3, Bliss 0
In Caldwell, the Weiser boys soccer team moved on to the semifinals with a 3-0 win over Bliss in the opening round of the boys 3A state soccer tournament Thursday at Vallivue High School in Caldwell. The Wolverines had goals scored by Jessy Solis, and Tito Zacharias scored two goals.
Weiser’s goalie, Ruben Ruiz, stepped up and had 18 saves in the win.
“We played very well today,” Weiser’s Oscar Vivoeros said. “We want to win a state title.”
With the win the Wolverines will take on Teton at 2 p.m. at Vallivue High School in Caldwell. Teton advanced to the semifinals with a 1-0 win over Bonners Ferry.
“Everybody played well today,” Weiser head coach Kathy Bokides said. “We communicated well today. We are ready to compete, and we look forward to the next game.”
