JV soccer teams win district titles

The Mountain Home girls and boys varsity soccer squads may have fallen short of their goal at their district soccer tournaments, but the JV programs came through with district championships.

There are new coaches, a new system, and new expectations, but despite the learning curve and a zero-win and two-loss start, the Mountain Home High School JV boys soccer team won the SIC District III Championship on Friday, Oct. 22.

Mountain Home had the number two seed, and a first-round bye.

They faced Skyview in the semi-finals, and prevailed 1-0, with Antonio Martinez scoring the Mountain Home goal.

"It was an awesome game," sid Tiger JV boys soccer coach Paul Walsh. "The kids played really well. Skyview came to play and it was pretty intense, and we came out on top!"

That put Mountain Home in the Championship game against Caldwell on Friday, and Mountain Home held off the Cougars, 2-1, for the Championship. Adam Wegrzyniak and Antonio Martinez scored the goals.

"Once again, our defense came up big," said Coach Walsh. "I can't say enough about the kids!"

Although the Cougars struck first, the defense, led by Eric Adamson with Jaime Rios in goal, settled down and played well.

"One of the parents quoted the old adage 'Defense wins Championships' and I couldn't agree more," said Coach Paul Walsh. "Our defense played well all year and exceptionally well in the tournament, allowing only one goal."

The two tournament wins and district championship capped off a rollercoaster season.

The JV Tigers had 3 wins and 4 losses halfway through the season. Their last loss was a heartbreaker to Skyview, 4-0, on Sept. 16.

"Some teams might have given-up but these boys pulled together," Walsh said.

"We decided to start having fun again and let the wins or loses fall where they may."

In the second half of the season the Tigers went 7-0-1, giving them an overall record of 10-4-1.

Goalies Jaime Rios and Nick Gula, along with defenders Eric Adamson, Levi Smith, Trevor Winstanley, Brannon Potts, and Andrew Jewik, combined their efforts for a total of 71 saves and 7 shut-outs.

The season scoring was lead by Daniel Mason with 9 goals. Other Tigers contributing this season included: Adam Wegrzyniak, 5 goals and 1 assist; Antonio Martinez, 3 goals and 1 assist; Edwardo Martinez, 2 goals and 1 assist; Kyle Fleek, 2 goals; Reza Mesmarian and Bryan Walsh, 1 goal and 2 assists; Eric Weiss, Nick Gula, Kyle Hall and Trevor Winstanley, 1 goal each; Luis Bernales and Ismael Hurtado, 2 assists; and Marcos Hernandez, 1 assist.

While the results of one year are never a guarantee, first year coaches Andrew Keff and Paul Walsh are looking forward to next year, and the next, and the next.

"We've got some good talent coming up and not just from the JV. Some of those future tigers are still playing competitive soccer in the U-12 division," says Varsity Head Coach Andrew Kerr.

"If we can get the boys to work hard, continue the parent and community support, soccer in Mountain Home could be headed for state in the near future."

Mountain Home went in seeded second in the girls JV District Tournament at Emmett, which gave them a first round bye. They faced Emmett in the semi-finals, and after going through regulation and overtime scoreless, Mountain Home won 1-0 in a shoot-out.

"A shoot-out is where each team alternates shooting at the goal on five shots, and the team that makes the most, gets the point to win," explained Mountain Home JV girls soccer coach Jay Lockett. "We made four, they made three, so we won, 1-0. They played great!"

That put Mountain Home against Skyview for the District J.V. Championship, and Mountain Home again went to a shoot-out before winning, 2-1, for the Championship.