Weiser High School Soccer Preview

Looking forward to the start of this fall’s high school soccer season a good number of Weiser’s boys players spent the better part of July working out and preparing for the annual Meridian Soccer Invitational, where they got to test themselves against teams from across the state.

 In spite of smoke filled air from wildland fires that started just over the border in Oregon shortly after the 4th of July, the team had continued to practice indoors in hopes the skies would clear up in time for the tournament to play out. 

 They did get in two games on Friday, July 26, the first against defending state champion Sugar-Salem and the other against Middleton, before the second day of play was called due to unhealthy air quality.

 Describing the game against Sugar-Salem, assistant coach Seve Bokides said the first half against Sugar-Salem had started out really well. 

 “It was 1-0 until the last second of the first half and Sugar-Salem scored another goal, and then they came out in the second half and, then…, well, yeah,” Bokides said.

 Giving her team credit, coach Kathy Bokides added, “You know what, Sugar-Salem is really good. They are the defending state champions. Our keeper (Gabe McLoughlin) is doing really well. 

 “They learned a couple of lessons very quickly of what not to do, and those were very good,” she said. “The other thing the team mentioned, too, is in both games there was a score right before the end of the half, and they were thinking the half was over and nothing was going to happen. They gave it up before the time ran out, so what a great learning experience.

 “They learned we don’t foul in the middle of the field to cause direct kicks for scores, and we were plagued with cramps, and once they started dropping we just didn’t have a lot of subs,” she said. 

 Playing Middleton, Bokides said the team was competitive with the Vikings, losing 3-1.

 “There were just some silly little errors,” she said. “One time, we just weren’t marked up and they shot and scored. It was a lot of fun, we just didn’t get to go back for the second day.”

 Looking ahead to the coming season, Bokides is expecting to see all of the players that participated in the tournament.

 “I expect those and more,” Bokides said. “I’m excited and am looking forward to playing games. We’ve got a lot of seniors and it’s going to be fun watching them.”

 Along with Seve, Bokides said Zach Rose will be back assisting and coaching the JV team, as well as the possibility of an additional helper, Dave Cazier.

 Official practices will start Aug. 12, with the team’s first game of the season scheduled at home on Tuesday, Aug. 27, against Columbia High School. Between now and the start of practices,  Bokides said the team has the option of getting together voluntarily for conditioning.