Badgers Place Second at State
The Bonners Ferry Boy’s Soccer team dropped the Idaho State 3A State Championship game Saturday to the Wendell Trojans, 3 – 1 at the Sunway Soccer Complex in Twin Falls. Wendell took the lead in the 31st minute off a 35-yard shot by Jose Ruelas, which eluded the outstretched arms of Badger keeper Mat Evans by mere inches. The Badgers responded with their only goal in the 34th minute when Aaron Moe finished off a nice one-two combination from Aaron Borne, who had received a nifty pass from Alex Mendez to start the play. The Trojans responded with two quick goals right before halftime by Eder Macias and Carlos Sarabia following some Badger defensive lapses. Still with 40 minutes remaining, Bonners tried in vain to get the equalizing goals, only to be thwarted each time by the resilient Wendell defense. Both teams produced nine shots on goal, and Evans recorded five saves. With the loss, the Badgers finished the season 17 – 4, and had an eleven game winning streak snapped in the final, while Wendell completed their season 18 – 1.
To get to the championship game, the Badgers faced tournament newcomer Marsh Valley in the Thursday quarterfinal. Bonners controlled the pace and possession throughout the early part of the match, but was having difficulty producing many good shots on goal. In the 28th minute, midfielder Aaron Moe crossed a pass into the goal area where an Eagle defender inadvertently kicked the ball past his own keeper, an own goal, putting the Badgers up 1 – 0. The back defenders Trevor Hampton, Hayden Wakkinen, Keaton Tremble, Ken Pew, and Evan Moe turned away most of Marsh Valley’s scoring opportunities, and when a shot made it on goal, Evans was there to save it. The final score of 1 – 0 put the Badgers into the semi-finals on Friday.
Facing the American Falls Beavers, who had edged McCall-Donnelly 3 – 2 on Thursday, Bonners once again controlled the pace of play with their superior passing game. The Badger bench was confident that it was just a matter of time before a quality shot on goal would occur, and that moment happened in the 45th minute. Alex Mendez threaded a beautiful through ball from center midfield to a streaking Andre Zarate, who had beaten his defender down the left flank. The IML goal-scoring leader slipped a shot from close range past the Beaver keeper to put the Badgers up 1 – 0, a score that would hold up as the final, sending the Badgers into the Saturday championship game.
Seven seniors played their final games this past weekend, and they will all be missed. Reserve forwards Matt Piccolo and Jesse Gondek saw some quality playing time in the Wendell game due to an injury suffered by Steven Bachmann in the semi-final, and all their hard work in practice paid off with some excellent passing and overall play. Midfielder Aaron Borne was new to the team, and his dribbling, passing and shooting skills were matched by few others. Defender Trevor Hampton had a great season and tournament, and his improvement over the season was noticeable to all of the coaching staff. Goalkeeper Mat Evans had a superb season, and was one of the best goalies at the tournament. Midfielder Aaron Moe saved his best play for the tournament, putting his creative passing skills on display at the most opportune time. Finally, midfielder Alex Mendez wrapped up his Badger career as arguably the best player in the Idaho 3A ranks – his leadership and play at the tournament was surpassed by no one. Evans, Moe and Mendez share the distinction of being members of three state-placing teams in their four-year careers, highlighted by the 2007 title their freshman year, a third-place showing in 2008, and now a State Runner-Up in their final season.