Torngren too much in net as Pocatello earns upset over Twin Falls

MIDDLETON — The Twin Falls Bruins dominated in time of possession. Evidence of that can be found in their more than double the number of shots on goal put up by the Pocatello Thunder.

The 5A girls soccer state tournament’s No. 2 seed did everything the Bruin coaching staff could have asked. But in the end, goalie Madysen Torngren and the Thunder’s back line of defenders were just too much, as 7-seed Pocatello snatched a 2-0 upset victory Thursday in the first round at Middleton High School.

Torngren finished the game with 21 saves. The 6-foot-1 sophomore increased her season total to 265 saves for the season, just four behind Malad’s Aubrey Shulz (269) for the most in the state.

“She was on point today. She was dialed in,” said head coach Mark Wetstein. “I don’t know what she ate for breakfast, but she’d better eat the same thing tomorrow.”

Torngren was far from alone on the back end, though, getting several huge plays from the defenders in front of her. In fact, a header save from senior Hannah Armstrong late in the first half was the “turning point in the game,” according to Wetstein.

“My defense, they’re staunch,” the coach said. “We’ve been working hard, all season long, on just cleaning up the little things. They’re really talented players, they listen so well, and they just want to be the best defensive line there is. … They showed up today.”

The reigning state champions, Pocatello took on a much tougher schedule this season. Then, late in the year, the Thunder lost their leading scorer, Aryanna Gonzalez, to a season-ending knee injury.

They finished the season with an 11-10 record — including a 2-0 run through the district tournament. So a lower seed was justified. But the team took the their 7-seed as a slight.

Tuesday, during the team’s last practice before leaving Pocatello for Middleton, Torngren hinted at Poky’s frustration over the seeding. After the game Thursday, Wetstein confirmed that there was some added incentive for the disrespect the returning champs received.

“Absolutely. This team rises to the occasion. Every tough team that we’ve played against, we’ve shown so well against,” he said. “I was excited to go in as these ‘underdogs’ and play these tough teams, play these higher-seeded teams, because that’s — my goal this weekend is to wreck somebody else’s weekend, and I think we did that already.”

While the defense shined, Poky’s offense got its first goal from the player who has done a masterful job of filling in for Gonzalez.

Junior Brynlee Pool scored all five of Poky’s goals during the district tournament. And in the 33rd minute Thursday, she rewarded her team’s stellar defensive work with the game’s first goal.

Where it came from was not surprising, but how that goal came was.

Pool took her usual left-footed corner, sending a low pass into the box. As the ball skipped across the grass, it spun in between the Bruin defense and the Twin Falls goalie, sliding to the net.

Players from both teams looked around briefly before realizing what had just happened.

For nearly 30 minutes, Pocatello defended that 1-0 lead from a Twin Falls onslaught.

“We awakened a monster at halftime,” Wetstein said. “(Twin Falls) came out with some purpose. They didn’t want to go down without a serious fight. Kudos to them, but my defensive line and Mady Torngren, they’re the ones that are going to come up big this weekend.”

The Bruins, who entered the game with a 17-0-1 record including two wins against Pocatello, flooded the Thunder with more than 20 shots on goal in the second half, and were turned away again and again.

Pocatello answered a few of those Twin Falls attacks with counters, and one finally bore fruit, when freshman Carlie Contreras scored her first goal of the postseason in the 64th minute.

With that much-needed breathing room, the Thunder calmed down and cruised to the final whistle.

“That (Contreras goal) let us settle in — it was getting frantic there,” Wetstein said. “It was needed.”

Pocatello keeps its hopes of a repeat title run alive, surviving its latest test.

“It was a battle. It was gritty,” Wetstein said, noting that there were some things his Thunder will need to improve if they are going to win two more games and another state championship. “But overall, the intensity — we were able to keep it up for the 80 minutes. It was there, and that’s what got us to the finish line.”

The Thunder will face the the six-seeded Vallivue Falcon, who upset No. 3 Skyline, Friday afternoon. The winner of that game will play for the banner Saturday.