Hillcrest High School boys soccer coach Bryan Johnston knows there’s little margin for error in 5A District 5-6 play this fall.
Saturday’s league matchup against Skyline was a perfect example of that.
The Knights used good play, hard work and a little luck to take a two-goal lead late into the second half. Things fell apart just as quickly for Hillcrest when the Grizzlies popped in a goal and nearly had another in the final two minutes before the Knights finished off their 3-2 win.
“We kind of took our foot off the gas, and when we did give them some time and space to breathe and shoot, they were making it happen,” Johnston said. “If you let up, you’re going to pay for it.”
Skyline would agree with that sentiment.
Hillcrest’s first goal came early in the first half, and was the result of a split-second letdown by the Grizzlies and two standout individual efforts from the Knights. Senior Brigham Redd started the play when he worked his way down the left flank and outmuscled a defender before sending a low cross into the box. Parker Erickson did some dirty work of his own, sprinting from the right wing to the near post to just beat the keeper and a Grizzlies defender to the ball.
After Brandon Sanchez tied the game late in the first half with a free-kick blast from 30 yards out, the Knights found luck on their side. The first instance came early in the half, when the ball made its way through a scrum of players in front of the Skyline goal right to the foot of Sam Zorn, who calmly planted it into the back of the net. Not long after, Hillcrest left back Cooper Sailer, moving just inside midfield, noticed the Skyline keeper drifting too far from his line. He sent a ball high toward the goal and it floated over the keeper’s hands and under the crossbar.
“He’s looking down there, he’s seeing where the keeper’s at, he knows where he’s at with the wind,” Johnston said. “We tell our guys, ‘you read it, and if it’s there, you take it,’ and that’s what he did.”
With the two-goal lead in their pocket, the Knights then played some of their best soccer of the year, possessing the ball and seeming to take the will out of the Grizzlies. That changed in the 79th minute when Kevin Chavez headed home an innocent-looking cross to make it 3-2. The Grizzlies had a final chance to tie the game in injury time when Sanchez broke free, but his shot went wide and the final whistle blew.
“We played a good first half, but we came out shaky in the second half, which has been our problem all season,” Skyline coach Byraun Moretz said. “We’re getting the goals, but we’re letting in the ones that age you 10 years.”
The Knights (7-1-1, 2-1-1) return to action Tuesday when they host Highland, while the Grizzlies (2-3-5, 0-2-2) host Madison on Wednesday at the Idaho Falls Soccer Complex.
