Wolverines looking to improve season record

Weiser’s varsity boys soccer team’s second loss to Columbia High School’s Wildcats this season could very likely be one of both teams’ most memorable. Time will be the only judge of that.

 In Idaho’s 5A league, Columbia’s season record is similar to Weiser’s. Going into Monday’s game, the Wildcats were sitting at a 1-3-2 win-loss-tie, and the Wolverines were at 3-3.

 The Wolverines went behind by several goals in the first half, and by the end of the first 40 minutes Weiser’s players were feeling pretty discouraged with how it had gone. Scoring for Weiser didn’t pick up in the second half, but the next 40 minutes turned into sheer fun, with every player on the field remembering how much they enjoyed playing the game.

 By the end, Columbia’s players were the first to build a tunnel for the Wolverines to run through, followed by Weiser reciprocating the gesture.

 Not a bad ending. Maybe like something from a Ted Lasso episode.

 Describing the game, Weiser defender Jackson Laird, who was moved to forward in the game, said, “It was definitely different from normal, because I usually play back, so being up front was pretty fun. I got to chase the ball, I felt fast, it was fun trying to connect passes and trying to score.”

 Midfielder Luke Brunson described it this way.

 “Obviously we were down by a lot,” Brunson said. “I don’t know, we had Parma the next day, which was a district game, which mattered.”

 Even though Parma remained in 3A in the Idaho High School Activities Association’s classifications realignment, the Panthers petitioned for their soccer teams to play up at 4A, keeping them in the SRV conference.

 Laird added, “If we went into that second half the same way we went into the first half, we would have been down on ourselves. And it wouldn’t have been a good way to go into Parma’s game. So, we tried to have some fun, and tried to get our spirits up. And, some of the captains spoke at halftime and told us we needed to lock in. That’s what did it for me.”

 And it worked. 

Weiser 0, Parma 1

 In Parma the Wolverines took a 1-0 conference loss on Tuesday, Sept. 17, after the Panthers scored off of a corner kick in the first half.

 Parma is currently seeded third behind Fruitland and McCall in SRV standings, with the three teams holding identical 4-1 season records. Payette and Weiser are right up against them, holding a 3-2 and 3-3 record, respectively.

 Laird said he saw in the Parma game that the SRV teams are pretty well even.

 “Anyone can take it right now,” he said. “We’ve beat teams that have beat other teams. We’ve lost to teams that have beat other teams. So everyone’s pretty much even right now, so it’s anyone’s game.”

 Brunson agreed, “Anyone can take it right now. It was a good game against Parma. They had a nice goal off a corner kick, so we definitely have to work on corner kicks.”