Canyon Ridge upsets Highland in district semis

POCATELLO — The Highland Rams still have a route into the state tournament, despite falling at home to Canyon Ridge Tuesday night.

The No. 3 Riverhawks outlasted the No. 2 Rams, earning a 2-1 victory in a match that featured five yellow cards and one red card.

Canyon Ridge got its first clean look at the goal in the 11th minute, but the shot banged off the crossbar. It wouldn’t be long for the Riverhawks to get another shot on goal, though, as they did a great job keeping the ball in their offensive zone.

The Riverhawks snatched a 1-0 advantage in the 23rd minute when they finally broke the scoring seal.

Highland scored the equalizer in the 32nd minute, when senior captain Issac Robinson put home a second chance off a corner kick.

Just before the match went to halftime, Highland’s David Allgood was issued a yellow card. It was the first of the match, but far from the last.

Canyon Ridge’s Armando Murillo received a yellow in the 42nd minute. Shortly thereafter, there was a collision in front of the Riverhawks’ goal involving the Canyon Ridge keeper. The Riverhawk players argued for a goalie interference penalty, but it was not awarded.

The Riverhawks did get that go-ahead score though, in the 47th minute.

As the game went into the final 10 minutes, the already physical match saw the physicality level increase.

Another yellow card was issued to Canyon Ridge in the 73rd minute, then another in the 76th. Finally, in the 80th minute, and altercation between Riverhawk Adan Ruiz-Fregoso and Highland’s Crew Brisoce resulted in a yellow card for Briscoe and a red for Ruiz-Fregoso.

The Rams never did find the equalizer.

With their win, the Riverhawks advance to take on the district’s No. 1-seeded Thunder Ridge Titans, Thursday at Thunder Ridge High School.

The winner of that match will take the district crown and advance to state. The loser will face Highland on Saturday, with the district’s second state berth on the line.