Idaho soccer: CdA, PF square off

The veteran team will meet the new kid on the block in the 5A Region I boys soccer tournament championship game.

Coeur d’Alene, which is seeking a third straight regional title, and Post Falls, which is venturing into uncharted territory, both earned state berths Tuesday. Second-seeded Coeur d’Alene eliminated No. 3 Lake City 4-1 at CdA while top-seeded Post Falls stopped No. 4 Lewiston 2-1 at Post Falls.

CdA (10-2-5) goes to Post Falls (11-4-2) Saturday afternoon to decide the regional title. The match begins at 2.

5A Region I: The Vikings jumped on Lake City (5-7-2) quickly. Sophomore forward Adam Borsheim scored from 15 yards out off a pass from senior midfielder Casey Shellman 10 minutes into the match.

Nine minutes later, senior forward Forrest Walker fed Shellman, who was all alone 5 yards in front of the net for the easy score.

“It’s always nice to score the first goal,” Borsheim said.

Early in the season, Vikings coach Eric Louis knew he was going to have to do something to take pressure off of Borsheim, who was being double-teamed. About halfway through the year, Louis moved Walker from the midfield to forward, and the Borsheim-Walker tandem has flourished since.

“Part of his (Borsheim’s) success is because of Forrest,” Louis said. “Forrest is terribly dangerous and you have to pick your poison.”

LC seized momentum briefly at the 54-minute mark when junior forward Chris Wheelock lofted a kick from 45 yards out that sailed over the head of Vikings goalie Jimmy Keith.

“We started to relax a little bit and that’s how they got their goal,” Borsheim said.

CdA put the match out of reach with two more goals in a 5-minute span. Borsheim took a well-placed crossing pass from senior defender Carson Green and chipped the ball in from 2 yards out in the 71st minute and freshman midfielder Kevin Hampton scored his first goal off a Walker assist moments later.

The Vikings upset the T-Wolves in the regional final last year. So Louis was cautious in how he tried to motivate his team, trying to guard against the same thing happening to his team.

“This was scary. I’ve been on the edge of my seat for five, six days now,” Louis said. “How do I enlighten without intimidating, and make sure they’re game ready and focused.”

LC coach Chad Beadell was disappointed with his team’s start.

“We didn’t have any pride (and) we had no passion and you can’t win if you don’t have them,” Beadell said.

•Senior midfielder Dalton Van Der Pol scored both goals for the Post Falls Trojans, who captured their first state berth since the program was founded in 1996.

Van Der Pol scored at the 11-minute mark when he knocked in a shot from 40 yards out over the goalkeeper’s head. His second goal was from 6 yards out off a pass from sophomore forward Hunter Cayton.

The Trojans had numerous scoring chances, but a stiff wind hampered them.

PF coach Gabe Lawson expects his team to play much more relaxed Saturday.

“We got the monkey off our back,” Lawson said. “There was a lot of pressure riding on them. The kids had a lot to prove. That played into the nervousness.”

4A Region I: Moscow opened a 3-0 lead on its way to a 5-1 win over Lakeland in a loser-out match at Moscow.

Moscow (10-4-2) travels to Sandpoint (12-1-2) to decide the regional title and lone state berth at 3:30 Thursday. The teams split their two league matches.

Nico Sanchez, Sebastian Mortimer and Mac Stannard each scored goals in the first half. Kyle Peterson had two second-half goals.