Skyline suffers heart-breaking defeat in first round of state tournament

MIDDLETON — The Skyline Grizzlies looked every bit the No. 3 seed in the opening round of the girls’ soccer state championships.

The Grizz dominated both time of possession and shots on goal, but a series of mishaps in the game’s closing minutes was all the Vallivue Falcons needed to earn a 3-2 upset victory Thursday afternoon at Middleton High School.

With just over two minutes remaining, Vallivue sent the ball deep into the Skyline zone — just looking to clear it and reset their defense. But Grizz goalie, senior co-captain Madison Merzlock, misplayed the ball and saw it roll out of bounds off her hands for a Falcon corner kick.

Skyline cleared the first corner kick attempt, but the ball went out of bounds, yielding a second corner kick. And on the second attempt, a Skyline defender mishit her attempt at clearing and sent the ball into her own net for what proved to be the deciding goal.

The Grizz had limited Vallivue’s set-piece opportunities all game, which is their focus, according to head coach Jeremy Johnson, making this loss “hurt” all the more that it came on back-to-back corners.

“That’s not going to happen again,” he said. “I think, we were the better team. We controlled the game — we had better opportunities. Sometimes the ball just doesn’t go your way. If we play that game 10 times, we’re winning it nine out of 10 times. The ball didn’t bounce our way today.”

Things got off to an ominous start for the 5A High Country Conference runners-up, when senior forward Mya Stone beat the Skyline defense to the ball on the outside and put it in the back of the net in the game’s first minute. But the stingy Grizzly defense held the line for the next 44 minutes, letting the offense get that early goal back.

And sophomore defender Cadence Miller took matters into her own hands in doing so, controlling a cross that got all the way through the box. From about 30 yards out, and at a sharp angle, Miller beat the Falcon goalie to the near corner for the equalizer in the 21st minute.

Again needing a goal to tie early in the second half, Skyline junior Isley Dixon gathered the second chance off a corner and flicked it home to tie the game.

Despite dominating in shots on goal, and having several free kicks just miss the mark, Skyline never pulled ahead. And when the corner kick from Stone trickled in for the Falcons, there was little the Grizzlies could do to undo the heartbreak.

A distraught Johnson spoke after the game about how he wanted his team to feel the pain of the loss, but only for a short while. Then, he said, he wants it to piss the girls off and give them added incentive when they return to the field Friday.

“We’ve just got to find a way to regroup and come back tomorrow,” the coach said. “That’s what’s fun about state and that’s what’s hard about state: it’s the highest of the highs and lowest of the lows.”

After tough losses, a team can “really show you who they are,” he added.

Johnson continued, noting that his seniors will have a chance to erase the pain from Thursday’s loss, battling back some emotion when talking about that small contingent of senior.

“You don’t want it to end this way for your seniors, you want to send them off on a good note,” he said. “We’re going to come out and work our butts off tomorrow and see what happens.”

The No. 3-seed Grizzlies will face the No. 2 Twin Falls Bruins, who lost to No. 7 Pocatello Thursday, in round two on the consolation side of the 5A bracket. Wins on Friday and Saturday would mean the Grizz would bring a consolation trophy back to Skyline High School.

Kick off between Skyline and Twin Falls is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Middleton.