Early-season storylines for District 6 teams with goals of reaching the state tournamenmt

EASTERN IDAHO – There are plenty of storylines for boys District 6 soccer this season.

Two key ones involve teams that came up short of reaching the state tournament last season and hope to be on the road to redemption this year.

Sugar-Salem won three consecutive state titles, but have not qualified for the state tournament the past two seasons after losing to Teton in the district tournament. The Diggers were ranked and expected to challenge for another state title both years.

The postseason format changes this year as at-large berths and play-in games eliminate the one-bid conference setup.

That’s a good thing for the smaller conferences like the Mountain Rivers Conference, where Sugar-Salem and Teton have been battling for that one precious automatic state berth. Teton had to knock out Sugar-Salem just to advance to state and ended up winning third-place and consolation trophies to past two seasons.

That rivalry likely won’t change this season as both teams are unbeaten heading into Thursday’s showdown at Teton.

The Diggers are ranked No. 2 in this week’s 4A coaches’ poll and Teton is receiving votes.

Sugar-Salem graduated five seniors, but has a core of players ready to step into key roles, coach Scott Terry said.

“It’s fun to see those players that have prepared themselves in the offseason step up into those roles,” Terry said. “We have a large group of seniors who have never been starters.”

The 5A High Country Conference has always been spirited and adds Pocatello and Century, so the battle for those coveted state tournament spots is even more fierce.

Like Sugar-Salem, Idaho Falls had its sights set on a state tournament berth last season, but came up short in the district tournament.

Blackfoot won the 5A consolation trophy and has been one of the most consistent teams in District 6. Skyline beat Idaho Falls to advance to state last year, and Pocatello, playing in District 5, also earned a berth to state a year ago. The Thunder now find themselves in the middle of the mix in the new conference.

Idaho Fall coach Ryan Cook said the team definitely remembers the disappointment of how last season ended, but after graduating 12 players, including eight that were named All-Conference, the focus is on the present.

“They love to compete and they want to win,” Cook said of the cast of characters on the Tiger varsity.

As expected, the season is already competitive.

Idaho Falls was ranked third in the 5A state coaches’ poll, but suffered its first loss of the season this week as Skyline prevailed 2-1.

The Tigers dropped to No. 4 in the poll, but although no other High Country teams are ranked in the state poll, the standings are close, with Century, Pocatello, Skyline, and Blackfoot right behind the Tigers. Seven of the eight team already have conference wins.

6A has arguably been the toughest classification for east Idaho teams to crack.

Thunder Ridge has typically been the conference team to beat and advanced to the state third-fourth-place game last season, eventually losing to Boise.

Dan Dummar takes over as head coach of the program and the Titans enter the week 4-2 with a conference win over Highland.