Bishop Kelly girls need fingers, toes to count title streak; Caldwell boys win on PKs

One remarkable goal sparked an improbable comeback for the Caldwell High boys soccer team.

Junior forward Jaden Pineda scored on a jaw-dropping bicycle kick in the final minute of the first half to propel the Cougars from a two-goal deficit to a tie-breaking penalty-kick shootout victory over Bishop Kelly in the 4A District Three Tournament championship game Thursday at Middleton High.

Caldwell goalkeeper Greysen Porter made three saves in the nine-round shootout and six in regulation after the two teams played to a 3-3 tie through 80 minutes and a pair of 10-minute overtimes.

“It feels great. I love staying composed. I love my teammates even more,” Porter said. “They did better than I did. I think they carried the team. But it’s teamwork.”

The Cougars won the shootout 7-6 courtesy of Porter’s stops on Bishop Kelly’s fourth, sixth and ninth penalty tries. It is Caldwell’s fifth district title in the last seven seasons and avenges a 2-1 loss to the Knights in last year’s district championship.

“I think the mental aspect of the game is all we’ve been lacking this year. We’ve got a ton of good players,” Caldwell coach Rhys Yeakley said. “So the fact that we were down 0-2 and we came back and tied it and then took the lead, gave it up, never stopped fighting. To me, it would have been a win in the books, whether we won this game or not, just because of how the boys fought.

“The fact that they were able to do that at the end was just icing on the cake. I’m really proud of them.”

Bishop Kelly took a 2-0 lead with goals from Shawn Cabus and Colton Crawford in the 33rd and 37th minutes, respectively.

But what looked like a potential runaway for the Knights morphed into a 3-2 Caldwell lead following Pineda’s goal and scores from Danny Torres in the 48th minute and Sam Yeakley in the 60th.

“That was one of the best goals I’ve ever seen,” Rhys Yeakley said of Pineda’s overhead kick.

Added Porter: “That’s straight out of the Premier League right there.”

Bishop Kelly kept its championship hopes alive when senior midfielder Sebastian Carranza netted the equalizer in the 64th minute. And the two squads remained tied 3-3 through 100 minutes of play, setting up Porter’s heroics.

Pineda, Brian Ramirez, Yahir Esquivel, Nick Caceres, Clay Walton, Chris Aguilera and Fabian Arguello each made a PK for Caldwell in the shootout.

Caldwell (15-3-1) and Bishop Kelly (14-3-2) both advance to the 4A state tournament, which runs Oct. 21-23 at Brothers Park in Caldwell. Defending state champion Vallivue (11-7-2) could also qualify for state by winning a play-in game Saturday.

Idaho will seed its state tournaments for the first time this year via MaxPreps computer rankings. Teams must still qualify for state via their district tournament, but the rankings were locked at the end of the regular season. District tournament games do not positively, or negatively, affect them.

BISHOP KELLY GIRLS EXTEND STREAK

Earlier this season, the Knights may have looked mortal after suffering their first league loss since 2008.

As it turns out, the wound was only superficial.

Bishop Kelly collected its 13th consecutive 4A District Three Tournament championship with a 5-0 shutout of Vallivue on Thursday afternoon at Middleton High.

Senior forward Izzy Reyes scored two goals and Lexi Chatterton, Grace Houser and Margaret Smock had one apiece. Bishop Kelly senior Jacoba Luteyn made four saves in goal for the clean sheet.

“We had a lot of injuries in the beginning of the year, and then it was a whole new group with a whole new coach,” said first-year BK coach Dawn Hill, who previously led St. Francis in Mountain View, California, to four section titles in 17 years.

“I think it took a while to figure out how we wanted to play and where to put people. Then I think just over the last half of the season every game’s just gotten a little bit better and a little bit better. We’ve really started to possess well and play simple.”

Bishop Kelly led 1-0 at the half after a goal from Reyes in the 6th minute when the Falcons couldn’t clear a corner kick from Gracie Rhodes.

Center back Lexi Chatterton extended the Knights’ lead to 2-0 on a free kick in the 45th minute.

“I mean, I sometimes get bored back there as a center back,” Chatterton said. “So honestly, I love taking free kicks, and I’ve gotten a lot better at it through the season. It’s really exciting when they go in.”

Vallivue’s hopes of a comeback disappeared over a four-minute stretch in the second half as the Knights netted goals from Smock, Reyes and Houser in the 69th, 70th and 72nd minutes, respectively.

“I think that since people hold BK to such high standards, we feel the need to hold up to that,” Reyes said. “We’re all so competitive and so strong willed that I think whatever people expect of us, we can get it done.”

The 4A girls state tournament will also be played at Brothers Park, and first-round matchups will be announced following Saturday’s play-in games.

Bishop Kelly (14-4-1) is headed to state for the 16th year in a row, while Vallivue (13-5-1) returns for the first time since 2018. Caldwell (8-10-2) could advance with a victory in the play-in game.

The Knights have won nine state titles since girls soccer became an official high school sport in 2000.