Weiser girls go 2-for-2 to win district title

Published by admin on Wed, 10/17/2018 - 11:46am

Weiser’s top scorer Liz Perez dribbles the ball against Fruitland in the first game of the SRV District tournament last week in Weiser. Perez scored three goals against the Grizzlies in the first half of play. She also passed the ball to teammate Andrea Bouvia in front of Fruitland’s goal, giving Bouvia the straight kick into the net to increase the Wolverines’ lead to 4-0 in the first half. There was no scoring in the second half. Weiser got the win and faced an always tough and talented McCall-Donnelly team in the district finals. Again, Perez came through with the clutch scoring, kicking in two goals, enough for the win.
By: 
Steve Lyon
Two early goals on fast breaks by senior Liz Perez were enough as Weiser held on to beat McCall-Donnelly 2-1 on Thursday to win the 3A SRV District soccer championship.
 With the win, the Lady Wolverines will compete for the big prize at the 3A state championships this week in Twin Falls.
 In the first game of the district tourney on Oct. 9, the Lady Wolverines shut out Fruitland 4-0 and advanced to the championship game against McCall-Donnelly. Weiser hosted the SRV girls district tournament.
 The title game between Weiser and McCall-Donnelly was the fifth meeting this season between the two teams. 
 The Lady Vandals proved to be formidable opponents during the regular season with two wins over Weiser and two ties.
 Against McCall, Perez, a scoring machine when it’s time to take care of business, caught the Vandals off-guard and outran a couple of defenders to get a shot and the first goal of the game. Weiser was up early 1-0 after only one minute of play in the first half.
 Perez got the ball again eight minutes into the first half to score her second goal. Weiser took a 2-0 lead with 31:02 left on the clock in the first half.
 Weiser got a break with 24:44 left in the first half when a shot on Weiser’s goal hit the right post and was deflected away from the net. 
 The Vandals scored their only goal of the game with 16:03 left on the clock in the first half. A nearly untouchable, arcing shot went over the Weiser goalie’s head in the corner of the goal to make the score 2-1 with Weiser still out in front.
 The Lady Vandals contested every Weiser possession with aggressive defense. The play got physical at times with a couple of injury timeouts. 
 Despite the bumping, the referees did not blow the whistle often or stop play during the two 40-minute periods. 
 Neither team got that many clear shots on goal in the second half. The Vandals had a good passing game but were not able to get in close for any high-percentage shots. 
 Weiser coach Bernie Weldon said the team didn’t change the game plan in the second half to protect the 2-1 lead over McCall-Donnelly.
 “We thought about it, getting a little conservative and trying to play more defense, but we stayed in the exact same formation in the second half. We were still trying to score in the second half – just didn’t get a chance to get it done. We had a couple of really good looks,” he said.
 He gave the Lady Vandals credit for playing good defense, which limited Weiser’s scoring opportunities in the second half. 
 “They adjusted to us like we adjusted to them. Kudos to them. They are a solid team,” Weldon said. “They have been solid top to bottom all season.”
 The Weiser girls ended the season with an 11-4-3 overall record and went 6-3-3 in the conference.
 The 3A state championship will be held at Sunway Soccer Complex in Twin Falls on Oct. 18-20.
 In 2017, the Lady Wolverines made it to the 3A state championship semi-final game and lost to Shelley.
3A SRV District tourney
semi-final game
Tuesday, Oct. 9, at Weiser 
 Weiser got on the scoreboard early in game one of the SRV District championships against Fruitland. 
 Both teams knew the stakes in the district tourney format. The winner of the game moved on through the bracket and the loser went home.
 Weiser’s Liz Perez blazed by a couple of Fruitland defenders to get a clear shot on goal. A veteran player on the varsity team, Perez doesn’t miss many shots in front of the goal. She put Weiser in front 1-0 in the first minute of play with a hard kick past the goalie.
 Fruitland’s goalie made some clutch saves in the first half, including two or three shots from Perez and shots from Marissa Moyle and Abi Harris. The Lady Wolverines were able to keep the ball on the Grizzlies’ side of the field. 
 The weather was cold and breezy. In the first half of the game, Fruitland’s goalie was kicking into the wind, which limited distance when trying to clear the ball. 
 On the other end of the field, Weiser’s goalie had some booming kicks with the wind at her back.
 When she wasn’t shooting and scoring, Perez was feeding the ball to teammates. A pass from Perez to Andrea Bouvia right in front of the Fruitland goal resulted in another score for Weiser and a 2-0 lead.
 With 14:21 left in the first half, Perez took a shot that found the corner of the goal and out of the goalie’s reach. The goal added to Weiser’s lead 3-0.
 Perez made it a hat trick with her third goal in the game in the first half. Weiser took a commanding lead 4-0 and held on to it for the second half of the game. 
 The Lady Woverines were able to put two players on the ball to challenge every possession by Fruitland. 
 Weiser’s defense frustrated Fruitland’s efforts the entire game to get good looks and shots on goals. Although she didn’t score, Weiser’s Alex Bittinger was one of the fastest players on the field and kept up a constant defensive pressure on Fruitland.

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