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After strong start, Tigers bow out of state finals
The Mountain Home Tigers got off to a great start at the State 4A Boys Soccer Tournament at Caldwell with a win over Preston, but then dropped two tough games to fall out of medal contention.
Mountain Home 3, Preston 2
(Shoot Out)
Eighty minutes of play could not decide Thursday's state soccer opener between Mountain Home and Preston. Neither could two ten-minute overtime periods. Neither could five shoot out penalty kicks. Finally, in the second round of five, on the second shot, Mountain Home prevailed to win, 3-2.
Preston got on the scoreboard first in the first 10 minutes of the first half. The Tigers countered with a goal by Keko Sanchez late in the half to make it 1-1 at halftime.
Preston was again the first to score in the second half, getting on the board about nine minutes into the period.
Mountain Home tied it up in the final minutes of regulation, as Keko Sanchez head-butted it in the net.
Two ten-minute overtime periods produced no end to the game, so it went to a penalty kick shoot out, with each team alternating players kicking penalty kicks against the goal keepers, with the team with the most after five kicks, the winner.
Neither team was able to score after the first players kicked. Preston went up 2-0, as their next two players scored, while Mountain Home's did not. The Tigers' next three players, Keko Sanchez, Juan Sanchez and Victor Sanchez all scored, while Preston got one more, so each team had scored three goals.
That led to the "golden goal" shoot out, with five more players set to kick and the game ending if one team scored a goal and the other didn't. Both goalkeepers turned back the first player's effort from each team. Mountain Home's' goalkeeper, Jack Richelieu, also turned away the second attempt. Jacob Lucas got it past Preston's goalie and the Tigers won.
Tiger coach Jay Lockett was excited with the win.
"Double overtime! The PKs -- we missed the first two out of the first three -- it was tough. It was tough. But it was a good game."
For the game, Jack Richelieu had 13 saves on goal for the Tigers, who moved on to face Wood River in the semi-finals.
Wood River 3, Mountain Home 0
The Mountain Home win over Preston was costly, as they lost three starters to injuries, including their top two scorers, and despite a gallant effort, the Tigers were unable to score and lost to the Wolverines from Wood River 3-0.
Despite the loss, Coach Lockett was proud of the effort his guys put out.
"We had three major starter injuries -- ankles -- we found out last night and this morning. We evaluated them. They couldn't play. It shook us a little bit, but we came out tough and we tried to do our best with what we had. When you have 18 players and people hurt, it's hard to fill in spots. It's tough, but no excuse. We still came out ready to play, but it's hard to overcome that."
The injured Tiger players were Keko Sanchez, Paul Rooney and Jesus Araujo. Tiger goalkeeper Jack Richelieu had 17 saves on goal.
Lakeland 2, Mountain Home 1
The Lakeland Hawks shot out to a 2-0 lead on the Tigers in the third-place game, and it was enough to hold off the Tigers for a 2-1 win to claim the trophy. Mountain Home's three players that sat out Friday's semi-final game did play Saturday. David Arciniega scored Mountain Home's lone goal off an assist by Keko Sanchez.
Jack Richelieu had seven saves on goal for the Tigers.
"We had our chances," said Coach Lockett after the game. "The first half was kind of sluggish -- you don't play a full game at state -- you're not going to win, that's all there is to it. The guys tried hard in the second half -- we had the momentum going, we just didn't have enough time in the half to do it."
Depite not earning a state medal, the Tigers did come away with some individual honors. State tournament officials announced that Keko Sanchez, Victor Sanchez and Jack Richelieu all were named to the First Team All-State Tournament squad.
It is never fun to have to end the season on a loss, but Coach Lockett said it's been a great season.
"I call it a wonderful season because of all the things that had to happen for us to get here. Everybody came together as a team. We pushed through the losers bracket (in district) to get here; we were the one team remaining in the semi's from District III -- I'm happy to be here, I really am."
Coach Lockett loses some good seniors to graduation, but is looking forward to next year.
"We lose our keeper and our forward -- it's hard to replace key players like that, but we have six starters coming back, and three really good freshmen that played in Boise this year, so we should be fairly competitive."
The Tigers finished the season 14-7-2.
In this week's up-close look at the Mountain Home Tigers boys soccer team, we look at two more members of the team.
Diego Diaz "Keko" Sanchez
Diego Diaz "Keko" Sanchez is a senior foreign exchange student from Spain. The Tigers striker is the son of Diego Diaz and Julia Sanchez. His exchange family in Mountain Home is Dave and Kathy Holland.
Keko was proud to be a part of their opening win at state and throughout the Tigers' soccer season.
"For me, it was very important to score and help the team in this very important tournament," the teen said. "I'm very happy with the team and excited about making the semis."
Jennica Lockett
Jennica Lockett is a manager on the Tiger boys soccer team. She is the daughter of Jay and Bobbi Lockett. Jennica is excited about the season and the success that they have had.
"It has been very tough, very hard, very fun and very emotional," she said.