Lake City prevails
Lake City High boys soccer coach Chad Beadell noticed junior forward Evan Palo limping midway in the second half Thursday afternoon.
Palo’s entire right leg was cramping. So Beadell called him over, worked over his leg and sent him back in 5 minutes later with instructions to keep attacking.
The physical therapy worked. Two minutes after returning, Palo made a nice cutback move to get loose from Coeur d’Alene defender Jon Latorre. The right-footed Timberwolf then lifted the ball with his left foot across his body from 15 yards out into the upper right corner of the net with 11 minutes remaining.
The goal loosened up Lake City as the Timberwolves finished in a flurry, avenging an earlier loss to the previously unbeaten Vikings with a 3-0 decision and putting themselves in position to share the Inland Empire League championship with the crosstown rival.
“My whole right leg cramped up,” Palo said. “He (Beadell) said I needed to get back in there because we needed to keep getting shots off. We did and they fell.”
Beadell needed Palo going hard on both legs in the final minutes.
“He was really knotting up,” Beadell said.
Worse yet, perhaps, is Palo was down on himself.
“He was pretty tough on himself because he had two opportunities right before that,” Beadell said. “He’s one of those kids that really gets down on himself. I just said ‘Hey, you’ve got to go make something happen.’ Wow, he did – and left-footed even. He likes to get the ball to his right foot.”
LC (13-1-1 overall, 9-1-1 league) now must win at Moscow on Saturday to secure a share of the title. CdA (12-1-3, 10-1-1), losing for the first time this season, saw a 10-match winning streak snapped. The Vikings would earn the league title outright if Moscow wins or the match finishes in a tie.
In the event of a tie, both coaches believed seeding to the 5A Region I tournament would be decided by a coin flip. The tourney begins Tuesday.
Beadell marveled at Palo’s goal.
“Jon (Latorre) made one little mistake and Evan got by him,” Beadell said. “He got that little step. That’s a tough shot with cutting down angle and Tyler (Olmsted) being a great ‘keeper. Going across your body is a great shot.”
CdA had barely put the ball back into play following Palo’s goal when LC struck again. Senior forward Tim Schreiber, with two defenders between himself and goalie Tyler Olmsted, fired a shot from close range that deflected off one of the Vikings and found a small hole just over Olmsted’s left shoulder.
Beadell started to yell at Schreiber not to shoot. Then the coach found himself applauding.
“It’s one of those things like basketball where you want to yell ‘Don’t shoot, don’t shoot’ and then you say ‘Great shot’,” Beadell said. “I couldn’t believe he got it through there. I don’t think (Olmsted) ever saw it because it was deflected.”
Jake Williamson added the final goal, on a penalty kick, in the last minute after Palo was fouled in the box.
CdA coach Eric Louis wasn’t overly disappointed with the loss. He said it was better to get the first loss this week rather than next week.
“This team has proved a lot to the league this year,” Louis said. “That (match) was an emotional letdown. We had a couple of golden opportunities no less makeable than theirs were, and they (the T-Wolves) had a couple of opportunities that Tyler made a couple of saves on. You don’t count the missed shots. You count the ones that go in. All this is is one loss.”