No. 6 Teton rides strong first half to upset win over No. 3 Kimberly

TWIN FALLS — The Teton Timberwolves scored the first upset at the 4A girls state soccer tournament, beating the Kimberly Bulldogs 2-1 at Twin Falls High School.

No. 6 Teton (11-5-2) controlled possession in the first half, putting six shots on goal to just one from No. 3 Kimberly (17-2). The second half was a different story, however, with the Bulldogs maintaining possession in the Teton defensive zone for more than 30 of the 40 minutes and scoring in the first minute after the break.

But the Timberwolves held Kimberly there, securing the victory and advancing into the winner’s bracket for Friday’s second round.

Teton head coach Cathy Thomas said after the game that she and her team knew coming in how good a defensive team Kimberly is. So an early 2-0 lead was huge.

“I’m super-proud of them,” Thomas told EastIdahoSports.com. “We came out strong in the first half and were able to get two goals against an awesome, great team.”

After 20 minutes of attacking relentlessly, Teton got on the board when Hallie Brown scored the game’s first goal. Carlson added some insurance less than two minutes later.

After taking a 2-0 lead into halftime, the Timberwolves allowed Kimberly’s first goal of the tournament less than a minute into the second half, when Cassidy Johnson

“For some reason, we just got a little too complacent and comfortable with that 2-0 lead,” Thomas said. “You can never do that — it’s the most dangerous score, and we’re at the state tournament, everybody is hungry here, everybody wants it.”

Thomas said that the second-half time-of-possession shift was concerning.

“But defensively, we were able to hold them off, so good win for my girls today,” she added.

The coach went on to say the victory was “absolutely” a statement win for her team, which played a difficult schedule but was perhaps overlooked coming in because the play “on the other side of the state.”

“We wanted to make sure everybody knew that we belong here, and I think we did that today.”

Winning a state trophy would further prove that they belong, and the Timberwolves have their collective eye on just one trophy — the blue one awarded to the state champion.

To do that, Thomas said, her team will need to increase its physicality, among other improvements.

“We’ve got to stay composed and play our game,” she said. “We’re a good passing team; we play possession. We need to be able to continue to do that. … If we do those things, we’ll find the back of the net, and we’ll be able to bring that blue one home.”

Teton advances to take on No. 2 Fruitland (16-0-3), who beat No. 7 Timberlake (14-3-3) Thursday morning.