A bumpy start to the season for PR soccer
A Spartan goes for ball against Bonners Ferry's Jesse Dye on Aug. 23.
(Photo by EMILY BONSANT)
PRIEST RIVER — The Lakeland Hawks handed the Priest River boys soccer team a 5-0 loss Monday.
“I was hoping they would come back recovered,” head coach Nick Tucker said, who said the scheduling for this season’s games and practices got a little challenging near the beginning of the school year.
After the Spartans’ 5-4 win against St. Maries early in September, Priest River soccer “got maybe one-and-a-half practices” due to smoke, Tucker said. “Running in the halls is not the same.”
The lost practice time added up for the team, Tucker said. On Sept. 15, the team came out with cold legs and lost to Timberlake 4-1. Originally scheduled for Sept. 14, the Spartans instead played Timberlake the day before they played the Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy, where they also lost 6-0.
Tucker said he hoped that the team would be fresher on Monday, but for the first half of the game he said “it looked like they were running in sand.”
The coach said that in addition to endurance, defensive containment was lacking. He praised senior goalie Luke Butler as a standout player for the Spartans — though the coach added it is up to defense to prevent decent shots on goal from being taken. Butler’s save rate is 60% to date for the season.
The Spartans will face off against St. Maries tonight, Sept. 21, in a rematch two weeks after what is thus far their only victory this season.
Similar difficulties have plagued the girls team as well, who saw a 2-0 win over St. Maries followed by a weeklong cool off period which saw them come back to the field and lose 11-1 to Timberlake on Sept. 14 and 11-0 against Coeur d’Alene Charter.
Tucker said the girls are struggling with not only defensive containment but as well with coordinating their offensive movement and rotation.
The girls played the Newport (Wash.) Grizzlies on Tuesday night and saw a 5-0 victory.
It was the first time the girls had 15 players present, which allowed them four rare substitutes, girls coach Christina Leonard said. Senior Kiersten Davis took 10 shots with 2 goals and junior goalie Brooklyn Best had 14 saves.
“We had 11 steals and 17 interceptions. The girls played a good game,” coach Leonard said.
Both teams will play at St. Maries Sept. 21 where they hope to repeat their earlier success.