Cda, Moscow Boys Alive

Although the playoff system for boys soccer in North Idaho makes about as much sense to the casual observer as rocket science, at least the options for who will play in the state tournmament have been narrowed to two.

Either Coeur d’Alene or Moscow will join Sandpoint at state after winning first-round matches in the North Idaho boys district tournament.

The Bulldogs received a bye to state by capturing the North Idaho Cup last spring. They will be joined by either the Vikings, who beat Lakeland 7-1 Monday, or the Bears, who defeated Lake City 2-1.

The Vikings dominated the visiting Hawks to advance to Wednesday’s 4 p.m. match at Coeur d’Alene with the Bears behind a mix of young talent and experienced leadership.

Senior Ty Kovatch celebrated his birthday by getting the Vikings started with a left-footed goal almost 6 minutes into the game. The talented core of young Vikings were soon represented by Jeff Wagonner, who knocked in three goals in a 10-minute stretch, to put his team up 6-0.

“We’ve got good players in the upper class and our freshmen stepped up to balance us out,” Vikings interim coach John Smith said.

It was Smith’s first win as head coach after assisting Jim Facciano at Lake City last year. Smith is coaching until Coeur d’Alene either officially hires him or another candidate. Unfortunately for Lakeland, Smith wasn’t the only fill-in on the field. Many key players for the Hawks were missing because they play on the Lakeland football team, and that spelled an early end to the season.

“We didn’t have some players, but we’ll practice through the winter and be ready for the spring,” Lakeland coach Josh Buehner said.

The Vikings must now win another game to qualify for state.

“Our new coach has us working together as a team and we’ll definitely be ready Wednesday,” senior sweeper Joel Grabenstein said.

While the Vikings dominated at home, the action across town didn’t go as well for the home team. Lake City had a tough assignment against Moscow because of its third-place finish in the North Idaho Cup last spring that decided who the pairings for the fall.

“We were unlucky to draw Moscow and it’s tough to come in and have a one-game season,” Facciano said.

The Timberwolves were beaten by the physical play and quickness of Moscow, and by the system. Scott Strobel got the Bears on the board 32 minutes into the game to tie the score at 1-1.

Mike Rowton would score the Bears’ second goal 4 minutes into the second half and Lake City couldn’t answer because of the physical defense of Moscow led by Strobel.

“We played tough in the first half, but we were slower and less in control in the second half,” Facciano said.

Facciano was openly critical of the high school soccer system in Idaho that is set up so teams from Southern Idaho have their season in the fall while North Idaho teams play in the spring. This allows teams from the south to play a full season heading into the state playoffs while teams from the north have to put together a team for only districts and state.

“We got screwed by the system and now we aren’t going to state,” Facciano said.

Girs soccer rescheduled

Two North Idaho girls district soccer matches, postponed Saturday because of bad weather, will be made up this afternoon.

No. 5 seed Lake City visits No. 4 Moscow at 3:30, while No. 6 Lakeland travels to No. 3 Lewiston at 4.

In matches Thursday, the LC-Moscow winner meets No. 1 Coeur d’Alene and the Lewiston-Lakeland winner goes to No. 2 Sandpoint. The matches begin at 4.

The championship match (winner and loser advance to state) will be played Monday at 4 at the site of the highest seed.

A-4 volleyball field set

Falls Christian earned the No. 4 seeding into the District 1 A-4 high school volleyball playoffs this weekend by dispatching visiting Mullan 15-8, 15-1 in a playoff Monday night.

Kim Williams and Kara Moate had four kills each, Ashlee Taylor seven aces and Melanie Johnson nine assists for the winners.

District play is Saturday at Clark Fork, which is the No. 1 seed. Kootenai is No. 2 and Lakeside No. 3.

Mullan’s season is finished.

Sandpoint A-1 volleyball site

Lake City will travel to Sandpoint tonight in the opening round of the A-1 Region I volleyball tournament.

Lake City and Sandpoint tied for second in the Inland Empire League at 4-4. School officials determined the host site Monday without resorting to a coin flip.

Sandpoint was awarded the home match because of a better record against highest finishing teams in the league. Sandpoint split league matches with champion Coeur d’Alene. Lake City lost twice to CdA.

The match tonight, along with the No. 4 seed at No. 1 CdA, begins at 7.

The winners advance to the regional championship match on Thursday at Post Falls High School.