North ready to represent in soccer
Judging by the way that four of the area high school teams were flying around last Saturday afternoon on fields in Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls, you probably don't have to guess if they are ready for the state soccer tournament to get started this week in Eagle and Meridian.
In fact, you could probably say that these teams opened state play on Saturday as Coeur d'Alene defeated Lake City to earn the Region I girls title, with the Viking boys taking the top seed from Post Falls on the Trojans' home field.
But the one thing you could tell by watching these teams is they play with intensity.
FROM PLAYERS going airborne, sometimes head first, hitting the ground and popping back up in Post Falls, to the constant tie-ups and hustle in Coeur d'Alene, these teams are ready.
Coeur d'Alene gets under way Thursday at Meridian against Mountain View, a team that has lost only once this season. Lake City opens play earlier that day against Boise, a two-loss team. Boise finished third in the 5A tournament last season.
After battling tooth and nail for a week against some of the best that the Inland Empire League has to offer, these teams get rewarded by taking on contenders for the 5A state title straight out of the gate.
It doesn't look any easier for the boys teams in North Idaho, with Coeur d'Alene opening with Centennial on Thursday at Eagle High School and Post Falls facing Eagle at Rocky Mountain.
Eagle, with a win over Post Falls, would play a semifinal match -- one step away from the 5A title game -- on its home field.
Coeur d'Alene, which claimed the boys regional title over Post Falls, and probably could use the rest after the most physical soccer match I've ever seen, will face Centennial, which is 13-3-1.
THE ONE thing I've noticed is that there is absolutely no quit in the kids representing the North Idaho area.
In fact, one might think that after clinching spots into the state tournament so early in the week, some of these teams would have had a letdown, but they didn't.
The Viking girls had to endure over three hours of actual match time, just in their last two games (three days apart), and still had enough left in the tank to hold off a charging Lake City squad in the final moments of their match.
Same could be said after both the Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls boys kicked, banged and pushed their way around in Post Falls, with neither team giving an inch to the other, something that could go a long way in determining just how good their season ends by Saturday afternoon.
Jason Elliott is a correspondent for the Coeur d'Alene Press. He can be reached by phone at 664-0239 or via e-mail at jasonwelliott69@yahoo.com.
