5A REGION 1 GIRLS SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP: Lake City's still the one ... Timberwolves, as third seed, capture 11th straight regional title
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 2 years, 11 months AGO
LEWISTON — It had been a while since Lake City had to take the long road to state.
But the destination, it’s still pretty familiar.
Senior midfielder Emily Medina scored a golden goal in the 90th minute for the third-seeded Timberwolves, who rallied to beat the top-seeded Lewiston Bengals 3-2 in the 5A Region 1 championship match at Walker Field on Tuesday.
It is the 11th straight regional title for Lake City, which finished third in the Inland Empire League for the first time since 2008. Lake City has won 10 league titles since then.
“It was just a great, great moment for this group from where we started the season and having some bumps in the road,” said Matt Ruchti, in his 21st season as Lake City coach. “When we struggled, we kept telling them as long as we continue to work as hard as anyone else in practice, we’ll be there in the end. This program, it’s built for October and trusting the process.”
Senior midfielder Gabbie Henkle tied the match on an assist from Taylor Miller in the 54th minute for Lake City (9-6), which has won four straight.
“The resilience that this group has shown the last two weeks has been amazing,” Ruchti said. “I couldn’t be more proud of them. They deserve everything they get.”
Medina played a rebound on a corner kick and shot it through a crowd past the Lewiston keeper for the game-winner.
“It’s been a play that we’ve worked on all week,” Ruchti said. “We’ve been impactful on corner kicks lately. We floated the ball toward the arch and Emily got a touch on it and hit it. She hit a good ball and it clipped one of their players and put a different spin on the ball. It was just a great, great moment for this group.”
Lake City opens at state next Thursday at Rocky Mountain High in Meridian.
Lewiston (11-4-3), which had swept Lake City in league play, moves into a state play-in match on Saturday.
First half — 1, Lew, Brynn Wimer, 10:00. 2, LC, Chloe Burkholder (Riley Brazle), 14:00. 3, Lew, Jessa Hartwig, 23:00. Second half — 4, LC, Gabbie Henkle (Taylor Miller), 54:00. Overtime — 5, LC, Emily Medina (unassisted), 90:00.
Shots on goal — LC 15, Lew 5.
Saves — LC, Acaja Scott, 3; Lew, Allie Olson, 12.