Tigers claw through District III soccer tournament

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

The Mountain Home Tigers opened the District III 4A Boys Soccer Tournament against the Middleton Vikings Saturday at Bishop Kelly. When two halves and two overtime periods could not decide it, the game was ended on a shoot-out with the Vikings making three shots with Mountain Home coming up short.

The game was tied at 1-1 after regulation. Middleton scored its goal in the first half. Mountain Home's goal came in the second half by Ben Cumber on an assist by Raif Armstrong.

Mountain Home went into the tournament at Bishop Kelly Saturday as the number two seed, with a 9-4-1 conference record, and opened against seventh-seeded Middleton, which was 2-9-3. One of those wins was a 2-1 decision over Mountain Home at Middleton.

The Tigers had previously defeated Middleton 3-1 at Mountain Home.

The Tigers finished their regular season schedule 9-5-1 overall and 9-4-1 in conference play, good enough for the number two seed behind unbeaten Skyview.

Earlier in the week, the Tigers closed out their regular season schedule with a win and a tie.

Tigers 6, Nampa 1

The Tigers had things clicking for them last Tuesday at Nampa, beating the Bulldogs 6-1 in conference boys soccer.

Mountain Home got two goals and two assists by Raif Armstrong, two goals by Ben Cumber, one goal by Francisco Dominguez, and assists by Casey Pehlke, Lucas Marsh and Tyson Gibbons. Fernando Salas had 11 saves on goal.

"That was probably our best full game all year," said Tiger boys soccer coach Paul Walsh. "Our guys remember what the Nampa team did as they road away on their bus from here after they beat us early in the season, and our kids really kept their composure. We were gracious winners and we let our field play do the talking, so it was a pretty nice victory."

Tigers 1, Knights 1

The Tigers found themselves down 1-0 at halftime after the Knights scored on a penalty kick late in the first half.

Mountain Home got a goal from Raif Armstrong in the second half, but neither team was able to put any more in the net, and the game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Fernando Salas had seven saves on goal for the game.

"I don't know what it is about that place (Bishop Kelly)," said Coach Walsh, chuckling. "Playing under the lights up there doesn't do us any favors. That aside, BK played a heck of a game, but it was a battle.

"Overall, nobody really dominated the game. We all had our chances and we each managed to get one in."

The loss at district to Middleton put the Tigers in the consolation bracket with a Monday game against Columbia. Results of that game were not available at press time. A win over Columbia would put the Tigers in a 5 p.m. game today against the Bishop Kelly-Skyview loser.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: