Century takes district tourney opener over Preston

CORRECTION: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the game’s lone goal was an own-goal, with a Preston defender passing the ball past her own goalie and into the net. In actuality, the pass was stolen by Century’s Kendyl Carey, who scored the goal.

POCATELLO — The Century Diamondbacks claimed victory in the state’s first district tournament game of the year.

The Diamondbacks (5-8-2, 1-2-2) hosted 5A South East Idaho Conference foe Preston (2-9-6, 0-3-2) in the playoff opener, and neither team could solve the opposing defense.

Preston appeared to have fired the game’s opening salvo in the 50th minute, but what appeared to be the first goal of the match was waived off on a late offsides call.

The scoreless battle continued into the 61st minute, when freshman Kendyl Carey intercepted a pass in front of the Preston goalie and slid it past her for the game’s first and only goal.

The defensive struggle produced by the conference rivals was no surprise. Century and Preston met twice during the regular season, with both matches ending in a scoreless draw.

With the win, the Diamondbacks advance to take on the regular season conference champion Pocatello Thunder (6-10, 4-0) in the tourney semifinals, Thursday at Poky’s Lookout Field.

The reigning state champion Thunder faced Century twice this season, winning both matches by a combined score of 8-1. Pocatello also beat Preston both times they met by an identical 8-1 combined margin.

Preston will take take on the loser of the the Century-Pocatello game, with the winner of that game to face the winner of the Century-Poky game for a spot in the state tournament.

Thursday’s match is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m.