Weiser boys end tough week with two losses, one tie

The Weiser boys varsity soccer had a tough week with two losses and a tie. This brings their overall season record to 2-2-1 and SRV record to 2-1-1.

 When asked his thoughts on the week’s games, junior Bryan Valdivia stated, “We felt good about Tuesday’s game, but we got ahead of ourselves and weren’t communicating well.

 “We knew Ontario would be tough, but we talked more and passed better. Against Payette we did a lot better, much better passing, but they also played tough. I think that we’ll get better every day and still have a good chance at being district champs again.”

 Thursday’s rematch against the Payette Pirates resulted in the tied score of 0-0. Whether it was the heat or the fact that it was the third game in as many days, the Wolverine offense was not able to muster enough energy to get past the Pirate defense. 

 Most of the game was played in the middle of the field, with neither team being able to command control of the ball for long.  

 Payette took the first shot on goal 7:30 into the first half, but it was over the top of the net. Weiser‘s keeper Gabe Rasmussen, a sophomore, blocked three of Payette’s shots, while the other two went wide.  

 Weiser’s first goal shot was 11 minutes into the game. Payette’s keeper was able to deflect the shot, and while Weiser immediately gained control of the ball, the next strike went over the net. 

 Junior Nathan Turner tried twice to score, but his first shot was blocked by the keeper, and the second one went wide.  

 With just three minutes left in the first half, Weiser tried to rally, but senior Sergio Orosco had his shot go wide. 

 Freshman Marcos Tarelo tried his luck, but narrowly missed with a deflection in the upper corner of the net. 

 Sophomore midfielder Triston Kautz went in for a goal with just 28 seconds left on the clock by following a kick into the goal box, but after a small fumble the Pirate goalie managed to save the ball.  

 The second half of the game had the Pirate’s offense a little more aggressive, but Weiser’s defense was able to keep them in check. 

 Coach Kathy Bokides said the boys learned a lot from the day before against Ontario, since they were such a good team. That match-up pushed the Wolverines to play more controlled and disciplined the next day.

 At half, Dylan Miranda, sophomore, replaced Rasmussen as goalie. Miranda racked up five saves, while the rest of the Weiser defense did their part to keep the Pirates at bay. Their pressure led to two goal shots by Payette that went wide and over the net, with the final one being just 12 seconds before the end of the game.

 For Weiser, the offense was a little more passive the second half, with only three shots being taken. Tarelo tried to score off a foul kick at 5 minutes in, but the Pirates managed to deflect it. 

 During the play junior Ander Barbot had a collision with the Payette keeper that put the goalie on the ground for a few moments. 

 With only six minutes left on the clock, Turner had his goal shot stopped by the Pirate’s keeper.  Junior Caden Cramer took his chance three minutes later, but also had his shot shut down by Payette’s defense. 

 Even though the game ended with a tied score of 0-0, Coach Bokides was still proud of the boys. “They played much better than the day before, even though we still couldn’t break through their [Payette] defense.”

 The upcoming week will be just as challenging as this week, with four games in the line-up. The Wolverines will be traveling to Baker on Monday, Sept. 10, for a non-conference game. Tuesday will be a rematch against McCall-Donnelly.  Then they’ll have a second chance at the Fruitland Grizzlies, in Weiser on Thursday. Saturday will bring a unique opportunity to the Wolverines, as they will be traveling up to McCall to host a match against Moscow High School.

 The next week will see things slow down, with only two games happening. Tuesday, Sept. 18, will have the Wolverines playing at home against the Payette Pirates. On Thursday, Sept. 20, the team will be traveling to McCall once again, to play the McCall-Donnelly Vandals.

Weiser vs Ontario (Wednesday)

 The Wolverines played the Ontario Tigers in a non-conference home game on Wednesday. The match was rough on Weiser and ended with a 6-2 loss. 

 Shortly after the game began, Triston Kautz, sophomore, received a yellow card for a breach of rules by forgetting to sub in. Weiser played a man down until a replacement midfielder could be subbed in.  

 Just five minutes into the game junior Ander Barbot received a yellow card after collision with an Ontario player.  This left Weiser down two players for subbing in.

 Ontario took the first shot on goal, which bounced off a side post.

At 14:30 in, Ontario senior Danny Rodriguez scored a goal from a deflection off a Weiser defender. 

 The Wolverines responded quickly, with Junior Nathan Turner scoring a goal. Just 3 minutes later, Cristoval Alvaraz, senior, used the momentum to score Weiser’s second and last goal. 

 The Tigers offense became more aggressive and kept the Wolverines on the defensive for the rest of the half. Keeper Gabe Rasmussen, sophomore, had a save off a corner kick. Ontario pressed on and in the course of 2 minutes had a shot that Rasmussen blocked, a kick that went wide left of the net, and another goal kick stopped by Rasmussen. 

 Marc Salas, Ontario junior, managed to get the next shot past Wolverine defense and Rasmussen. Three minutes later, sophomore Salvador Cuna scored Ontario’s third goal. Rasmussen was able to block the next shot that came at him.

 Junior Nathan Turner tried to respond to the Tigers with 20 seconds left on the clock, but his kick from a foul went over the net.

 With a score of 3-2, Ontario, starting the second half, the Tigers stayed aggressive and the Wolverine defense just couldn’t stand up to it. 

 Ontario kept the ball mostly on the Weiser half of the field, starting with a shot that went over the net. This was shortly followed by a corner kick that sophomore keeper Dylan Miranda blocked. Next the Tigers had a shot that deflected off the left side post, then a shot Miranda saved.

 The Ontario bench received a yellow card, with Coach Jaime Gonzalez receiving a warning from the referee.

 With 17 minutes of play done, Ontario sophomore Erick Lopez scored with a shot that went past Miranda. Cuna then scored the fifth goal for Ontario. 

 Weiser tried one more time to make an offensive push, but Turner’s shot off a foul went wide to the left of the net. After that the play stayed almost exclusively on the Weiser side of the field. With only 4 minutes left in the game, senior Kevin Becerril scored the final goal for Ontario. 

 The final outcome was 6-2, Ontario. Coach Kathy Bokides stated that they knew Ontario would be tough opponents, but that the boys did not play as effectively as they could. 

Weiser vs Fruitland (Tuesday)

 Weiser had a tough loss against the Grizzlies on Tuesday, Sept 4. With a final score of 0-1, Fruitland, the boys had their first loss of the season. 

 It was a hard battle the first half, with the Grizzly offense being aggressive. Play started with a long series of back and forth over the center line. A drop ball happened at just 3 minutes in, after the referee stopped to make sure players were okay after opposing members collided when going for a head bump. 

 Fruitland took the first shot at goal, but missed. At 8 minutes in, Fruitland took a goal shot that went in, but was called invalid due to hands.  

 Weiser was aggressive, but couldn’t make it past Fruitland’s defense. Several shots were taken, but they either went wide of the goal or were stopped by the Grizzlies. 

 Marcos Tarelo, freshman, received a yellow card 30 minutes into the half. Right before half, Fruitland senior Reynaldo Rodriguez also received a yellow card.

 The first half ended with a 0-0 score.

 The Wolverines tried to put a point on the board and kept the ball mostly on the Fruitland side for the first 10 minutes of the second half.  The passing play was better the second half, but Weiser just couldn’t get a ball into the net.

 With only 12 minutes until the end of game, junior Oswaldo Espinoza finally got a shot past Weiser to put a point on the board for the Grizzlies.

 Another yellow card was received for Weiser by defender Justin Estes, a junior. Espinoza of Fruitland also received a yellow shortly after.

 Weiser continued to push the ball into Fruitland territory, and tried one last time to even the score, but the shot deflected off the left side pole.

 After the game Coach Kathy Bokides said, “If we had played the first-half offense like we did the second half, we would have been much better off.”