Weiser girls soccer team finishes fourth at state

After winning a thrilling SRV District tournament for the fifth year in a row, the Weiser girls soccer team prepared for the 3A state tournament by working hard and focusing, coach Bernie Weldon said.
 The Lady Wolverines first opponent was Grangeville.  Weiser’s first goal came at the 12-minute mark with Brooklyn Warner tapping in a ball that had bounced several times between Grangeville and Weiser players in front of the goal.  
 Shortly before halftime, Grangeville’s Elsa Israelsson scored a long-shot goal over the hands of Weiser’s goalkeeper, Melissa Sandoval, that was fed in by a corner kick.  The score was tied 1-1 at halftime.  
 In the opening of the second half, Marissa Moyle dribbled the ball into the open field and took a long left-footed shot that found its way over the Grangeville goalkeeper’s hands.  
 Approximately 10 minutes later, Elle Svedin was fouled inside the Grangeville goal box.  Moyle took the penalty kick which slid by the keeper, bringing the score to 3-1.
 With a little over 10 minutes remaining, Madelyn Erickson fed a pass from the outside to Andrea Bouvia in the middle.  Bouvia placed a long right-footed shot down the middle of the field into the top right side of the goal. Only 3 minutes later, Alex Bittinger finished a goal from close range.  
 The final goal came when Makaela Ruiz sent a long pass from the backfield to Melodee Cathey. Cathey aggressively dribbled the ball through the Grangeville defense to score with approximately 2 minutes remaining, ending the game with a score of 6-1.
 Coach Weldon said of the game, “Everyone played very unselfishly both offensively and defensively.”  He continued, “It is very unusual to have 5-6 different players score in a game which means we were unselfishly distributing the ball.”
 “This was also our lowest number of goalkeeper saves (5) in the season which means that our whole team was playing solid defense,” said Coach Weldon.
 Sugar-Salem was next for the Lady Wolverines.  Weiser scored 3 minutes into the game with Moyle kicking a long high goal, assisted by a pass from Bouvia.  At the 10-minute mark, Morgan Teichert from Sugar-Salem managed to dribble the ball through Weiser’s defenses to score a goal.  
 The score was tied at 1-1 at halftime with both teams playing strong defense.  During the second half, Weiser had several chances to score, but were unable to convert the opportunities into goals.  
 With 22 minutes remaining in the game, a Weiser player received a red card while attempting to clear a ball from an opponent. Despite having one less player, Weiser continued to play strong defense and apply offensive pressure.  
 At the end of regulation, the score was still 1-1.  During overtime, Haleigh Birch from Sugar-Salem was able to kick a ball through two Weiser backfielders that squirted under the goalkeeper for the game-winning goal.
 Saturday matched up Weiser against Marsh Valley, whose only loss in the tournament was against CDA Charter, who ended up being the state champion for the second year in a row.  Weiser played tough but lost 0-2.  
 “As a coaching staff, we are extremely proud of our team. They played with great focus and unselfishly this state tournament,” said Weldon.  
 He added, “This team is made up of great individuals who have been able to create more as a team than they could have separately. It has been a special season.”