ORDER GAME PHOTOS

The Idaho high school boys soccer season will feature plenty of exciting teams, players and storylines in 2023.  Here’s a classification-by-classification breakdown of what to watch this year.

Class 5A

Timberline capped off an unbeaten regular season with a state title. Draws against Borah and Boise kept the Wolves from having a perfect season, but there is still plenty to be proud of. Kai Hatten swept the player of the year honor at both the conference and state level, but has now graduated, leaving big shoes to fill.

Hatten won’t be the only void on the Wolves’ roster. Ben Anderson, Jake Anderson, Zayne Davis, Parker Gropp, and Mathis Spanneut are gone as well leaving Timberline without six key players from the 2022 championship squad. Quintin Boggs, Cole Stoddard, Zach Taylor, and Kyle Atkinson will be the lead figures for Timberline in 2023.

Which teams seem most poised and ready to take advantage of Timberline’s roster depletions? Boise and Rocky Mountain seem to be those next two teams in line, but there are others too. Borah, Eagle, and Mountain View also have the pieces to go on a run in the always loaded 5A Southern Idaho Conference. 

The Brave return all-state talents Tucker Smith and Daniel Hirai while the Grizzlies only return Tommy Hammons from the all-state honor roll. The Lions, Mustangs, and Mavericks graduated all of their all-state talent. At the conference level, Borah returns Issac Alford and Christian Griffith who both made the all-conference team as freshmen. Eagle has Ashton Smith and Ethan Juarez returning while Mountain View brings back Jack Chase.

Centennial and Owyhee could also make noise in the SIC. The Storm lost all-state and first team all-conference star Nik Vassilaros along with all-conference honorable mentions Andrei Todorovic and Mason Orr. Jordan Shupe returns, giving Owyhee one of its honors players from 2022 back.

Centennial did more with less last season only seeing two players named to all-conference honorable mentions and graduating both. The Patriots will seek to continue proving that they can win with a balanced team effort. Kuna, Middleton, Meridian, and Nampa will all look to join the fray as well.

In Eastern Idaho, the main storyline surrounds Thunder Ridge. The Titans are not content with just finishing with bronze. They are ready to win it all. The Titans bring back three all-state honorees from last season’s 3rd place finish with Adrian Trejo, Andre Casteaneda, and Marco Acosta. From the all-conference roster, Thunder Ridge also gets Owen Boyle and Joee Valasco back. 

Madison may be Thunder Ridge’s biggest challenge in District 5-6, but the Bobcats still have plenty of work to do in order to top the Titans. Madison gets Christian Taylor, Max Thueson, and Michael Williams back as they seek a return to the state tournament. 

Highland has some returning all-conference talent with Jace Tarelelmar, Jace Bailey, Preston Jensen, and Slayter Briscoe that will make the Rams worth keeping an eye on. Rigby’s Drake Tanner is also a player to watch in the High Country Conference.

Coeur d’Alene and Lake City are the two expected frontrunners in the Inland Empire League and for good reason too. Connor Jump, Gavin Schoener, Malakai Delio, and Jacob Molina return for the Timberwolves while the Vikings have Chet Hanna and conference newcomer of the year Maddox Lee back. How will Coeur d’Alene fare without league MVP and first team all-state forward Cooper Prohaska? 

Post Falls gets conference goalkeeper of the year Dominic Roberts back and along with Lewiston, they will look to surprise in the Inland Empire League.

Class 4A

Much like 5A, the 4A state championship match was an all-SIC affair. Defending champion Bishop Kelly and traditional powerhouse Caldwell played a great game that came down to penalty kicks and in the end, the Cougars came out on top. Bishop Kelly entered the state tournament as the eight seed and knocked off top seeded Sandpoint and fourth seeded Blackfoot on their cinderella run to the championship match.

While the Cougars and Knights played for all the marbles, Vallivue was forced to watch from home. The Falcons fell just short of making the state tournament and one can only wonder what they could have done had they gotten a spot in the eight team field. Vallivue had the SIC player of the year in David Campos, but now that he has graduated, there are big shoes to fill. Even with this, there are still pieces there for the Falcons to win a conference crown. Skyview is another team to watch as well.

Caldwell returns some key pieces from its 2022 championship winning team. Jose Escutia, Fabian Arguello, Xavier Cuevas, and David Galvan return for the Cougars. Bishop Kelly returns even more, seeing Brenden Boyd, Allan Huerta, Elijah Klaas, Andrew Nguyen, Landan Schweiger, Cameron Wind, Gabe Hyman, and Justin McGrew back on the pitch for the Knights.

Canyon Ridge and Wood River ran things in the Great Basin Conference last season. The two teams split their regular season meetings and split two postseason matches as well. The Wolverines won a district tournament matchup while the Riverhawks won a loser out game at the state tournament in penalty kicks. 

The Riverhawks and Wolverines both graduated all of their all-state talent as Canyon Ridge’s Alex De La Toree and Wood River’s Conrad Foster and Juan Ortiz are gone. Looking for a dark horse to come out of District 4? Mountain Home nearly kept the Riverhawks out of the state tournament field, taking Canyon Ridge to penalty kicks before the regular season conference champions held off the Tigers’ upset bid.

Any one of the three teams in District 5 could be at the state tournament. While Century was the representative last season, Pocatello and Preston are absolutely capable of getting there as well and an exciting conference race should be in the cards.

In the High Country Conference, Blackfoot and Idaho Falls represented the league in the state tournament. The Tigers’ Jiovani Soto was the only all-state representative from District 6 and is just one of a handful of talents that Idaho Falls will be without in 2023. 

Conference player of the year Jojo Soto is gone for the Tigers along with Riley Jiang, Freddy Ponce, Kenny Rodriguez, Corey Bidstrup, Braden Reisner, and Austin Wright. Blackfoot is also taking some hits from graduation as well with Gabriel Batacan, Cooper Hanson, Armando Botello, Spencer Cook, and Gavyn Cornell gone. With all these departures, can Shelley, Skyline, and Hillcrest take advantage? They return plenty of pieces that could shake things up.

Sandpoint is looking to redeem itself after being the victim of a 1 vs 8 upset. The rematch of the 2021 state championship match once again went Bishop Kelly’s way in the first round of the 2022 state tournament. There will be no Evan Dickenson, Randy Lane, or Stirling Rodgers for the Bulldogs, but Logan McGrann, Eoin Eddy, and Henry Barnes are back.

Class 3A

Sugar-Salem is on top of the 3A world as winners of back-to-back state championships. Now, the Diggers will seek to three-peat, but they will have to do it without Devin Patterson, Cort Stoddard, Mason Kinghorn, and Jacob Llewellyn. 

With Ben Owens, Fisher Daniels, Gordon Petterson, Gabe Gedres, Cody Parkinson, and Tyler Mendoza back, Sugar-Salem should be right back in the discussion for a state crown.

Teton also has the pieces to give Sugar-Salem a run for their money. The Timberwolves could have set up an all-Mountain Rivers Conference showdown in the state championship match, but could not get past Wendell in the semifinals. After falling to American Falls in the 3rd place game, Teton settled for a 4th place finish.

Sawyer Mitchell, Tony Gutierrez, Bode Cadler, Jacob Collins, Sam Ordonez, Wyatt Gentry, and Jessie Beedin will all look to help Teton dethrone Sugar-Salem in District 6. South Fremont and Firth will also try to get a seat at the table in what is expected to be a two team conference race.

Just south in District 5, American Falls came out of the Southeast Idaho Conference and took home the bronze at state. With no more Marco Ponce, can the Beavers stave off Marsh Valley, Aberdeen, and Snake River to defend their conference crown and perhaps make it to the state championship game this year?

In the Magic Valley, Wendell will look to build off a state championship game appearance by winning it all in 2023. Traditional power Sun Valley Community School was right behind them in the High Desert Conference, but fell apart in the district tournament in upset losses to Kimberly and Bliss. This kept the Cutthroats out of the state tournament and now, they will look to get back there.

Sebastian Lerner, Russell Stumph, and Nils Galloway are gone for Sun Valley while Wendell graduated Diego Torres, Santiago Hurtado, and Michael Torres. The Cutthroats would seem to be a presumptive favorite due to their continuously proven ability to reload, but Wendell, Kimberly, and Bliss will make the race in District 4 an exciting one.

In District 3, McCall-Donnelly brought home the consolation trophy. The competition in the Snake River Valley Conference was stiff between the Vandals and Weiser, but McCall was able to get past the Wolverines in the district tournament to punch their ticket to state. With no more Rylan Pate for the Vandals, can Weiser complete the job they could not finish in 2022 and earn a state tournament trip in 2023?

The Intermountain League will be hoping for a slightly better showing at the state tournament this season after both of the conference’s representatives; Bonners Ferry and Timberlake went two and out. With District 1-2 likely coming down to the Badgers and Tigers again, who will come out on top this year? Bonners Ferry knocked off Timberlake in last year’s district championship match in penalty kicks after the Tigers swept the regular season series.

Timberlake and Bonners Ferry will be without all of their all-state and all-conference talent from 2022. The Badgers saw Nick Eastman named to second team all-state and all-conference while the Tigers lose all-conference honorees Nate Anderson, Colton Mendenhall, and Gavin Mooney. 

Neither team produced the league player of the year in a big shocker as that award went to St Maries’s Greyson Sands. The Lumberjacks as well as Orofino will be two teams to keep an eye on in the Intermountain League. Coeur d’Alene Charter could also make things interesting. The Panthers tied with Timberlake at one point in the regular season, so the gap is not as wide as some might think. Look out for an exciting conference race in the Idaho Panhandle.