State soccer update: Sweet revenge for Marsh Valley, Pocatello; 4 local teams to play for state championships

EASTERN IDAHO — The Marsh Valley Eagles and Pocatello Thunder both got revenge for 2025 state tournament losses Friday, beating rivals to earn spots in state championship games.

The Eagles will play in the girls’ 4A Soccer State Championships Friday, after beating the Sugar-Salem Diggers — winners of the last three state titles.

Pocatello beat Hillcrest, avenging a loss in last year’s third-place game, for a spot in this year’s girls’ 5A state championship.

Here is what happened in Friday’s semifinal action:

Sugar-Salem and Teton set up all-Mountain Rivers boys’ 4A title game

The Diggers and Timberwolves, as Mountain Rivers Conference rivals, have done battle three times already this season, with Teton coming away with two wins including in a district title matchup.

They will meet once again Friday at Burley High School. This time, a banner will be on the line.

No. 1 Teton topped No. 4 Sun Valley Community School, 2-1, in Friday’s semifinal round.

The No. 2-ranked Diggers earned their spot in the finals with a 2-1 victory over Coeur D’Alene Charter.

Part four of the Sugar-Teton showdown is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Tigers will play for third

No. 5 Idaho Falls fell short against No. 1 Sandpoint Friday at War Memorial Field in Sandpoint, losing 3-1 in the boys’ 5A semifinals.

With the loss, the Tigers fall into the third-place game, where they will meet No. 2 Wood River. That game is scheduled to start at 11 a.m.

In Friday morning action, the Century Diamondbacks kept their season alive with a 2-1 elimination-game victory over Jerome. Century was the only local team, of six, to win an elimination game Friday morning.

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Skyline, Hillcrest to face off for second

Skyline has been one of the state’s highest-scoring teams all season. But in the girls’ 5A semis, the No. 4 Grizzlies were held goalless by No. 1 Twin Falls.

They will play in the girls’ 5A third-place game, which is scheduled to start at 1:30 p.m. at War Memorial Field in Sandpoint.

The Grizz will be joined in the third-place game by their crosstown rivals, the No. 2 Hillcrest Knights, who lost 2-1 in overtime to Pocatello.

Poky exacts revenge

The No. 6 Thunder were held trophy-less last season when they lost to Hillcrest in the third-place game. Then, Pocatello joined the Knights in the 5A High Country Conference.

Hillcrest beat Pocatello both times the two teams faced off during the regular season, so they had all the momentum in the world going into Friday’s semifinal matchup with the Thunder.

Poky, though, got the revenge it had worked the last 12 months for, beating Hillcrest 2-1 in a second overtime period Friday, on a Brynlee Pool free-kick golden goal from 40 yards out.

The Thunder will play for their second state title in three years — and second in program history — Saturday, facing Twin Falls at War Memorial Field. The girls’ 5A title game is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.

Teton drops into girls’ 4A third-place game, where they will meet a familiar foe

No. 6 Teton suffered a 1-0 loss to No. 2 Fruitland Friday afternoon at Twin Falls High School, falling into Saturday’s third-place game.

There, the Timberwolves will meet a Sugar-Salem team they have already faced three times this season.

The No. 1-ranked Diggers have finished the last three seasons with a state championship. But the Sugar-Salem seniors will not have a chance at the clean sweep after losing to Marsh Valley on Friday. Instead, they will face the Teton team against whom they are 2-0-1 this season.

Eagles continue to soar

No. 4 Marsh Valley lost to the Digger last season. It was the Eagles’ first trip to a state title game, and the first trophy in the program’s history.

The Eagles will get another shot at hanging a banner this year, though, after avenging last year’s loss.

Marsh Valley faced Sugar-Salem twice during the regular season, losing once and drawing once. Now, they own a head-to-head playoff win over the team that has been the class of the classification for the last four years.

The Eagles will face Fruitland in Saturday’s championship game, scheduled to start at 5:30 at Twin Falls High School.