Badgers named district champs, headed to the state tournament
-Photo by DOUG BEAZER Elijah Price hustles in the rain, beating a St Maries player to the ball.
COUR D’ALENE — The boys soccer team won the district championship game in overtime on Thursday, Oct. 13. This exciting win over St Maries means the Badgers are going to the state tournament.
Conditions were less than ideal, as a steady downpour leading up to the game turned the field into a slippery bog. The slick grass made controlling the ball difficult and gave the players little to no traction. While it made play challengling, the rain also had the effect of raising the intensity level a notch or two.
The Badgers proved they were more than willing to get a little mud on their uniforms and they played like their season was on the line, which it was.
The match-up with St Maries turned out to be a solid one and at no point did either team look ready to back down. The play was back and forth, with neither team able to capitalize on offense until Badgers midfielder Pedro Cardoso scored on a penalty kick. That goal was all the stimulus the Lumberjacks needed and they tied it up with a penalty kick of their own in the second half. Several saves by Bonners Ferry’s keeper Seth Bateman kept up the stalemate.
With the score tied at 1-1 as the whistle called for the end of regular play, the game went into sudden-death overtime. Tensions were running high: the first team to let in a goal would be kissing their chances of State goodbye. As it turns out, the Lumberjacks were the ones puckering up as Cardoso finished off a beautiful cross that came on a corner kick in the 83rd minute.
Coach Wayne Wilkerson was ecstatic after the win on Thursday, telling the Herald, “I’d like to thank all the amazing parents and the support we have received from the community...but mostly I’d like to share my appreciation and pride for the boys on this year’s team. They are truly inspirational, dedicated and exceptional young men, soccer players and students.”
The boys leave for the State Tournament in Twin Falls this week. They will take on their first opponent, The Community School Cutthroats, on Thursday, Oct. 20 at 11 a.m.