Tigers' soccer squad begins season against Cougars

The Mountain Home Tigers open their boys soccer season Saturday at home against the Caldwell Cougars.

Tiger head soccer coach Jay Lockett said they had a great turnout for soccer.

"We had almost 50 players, and normally we have anywhere from 38 to 42, so 10-plus more players."

The Tigers had a busy summer and played competitive against some quality teams.

"We had a lot of games and played quite a few new teams this year, like 5A Hillcrest. They came down and played us. Preston came down and played us -- they're 4A -- and we played a few 3A teams, Gooding, which won state last year and Fruitland, who took second at state last year, and we faired fairly well against all of them."

Coach Lockett indicated that the first week of practice has gone well.

"We did two-a-days for the first two days and now we're doing one-a-days for almost three hours a day, taking advantage of the extra help I have this year. We have a physical fitness trainer for the first hour of conditioning, then the next two hours is more foot skills and stuff like that."

Lockett, whose team went 8-5-1 last year, is optimistic, since he only graduated one senior.

"We lost only one starter last year, and three starters the year before, so we're top-heavy with about 13 seniors, so we're returning most everybody."

The Tigers had a jamboree last Saturday and open this Saturday at home against Caldwell. Lockett hopes for a good crowd to come out and cheer on his Tiger squad, who he believes should have a banner (as in state championship) season.

"We're hoping that everyone will come out and watch Mountain Home soccer. We're looking at being in the top two in conference and going to state, and hopefully making some noise and hopefully win state."

The Tigers open Saturday at Eastside Park against Caldwell. The game kicks off at 11:30 a.m. They are also home on Tuesday against Middleton and travel to Nampa on Thursday. Both of those games have a 6 p.m. start.