No time like now

Chad Beadell has been to state as a soccer player and he’s taking his second Lake City High boys team to state as a coach.

He was the backup goalie as a sophomore in 1993 when Coeur d’Alene won a state title. Then he went to Lake City when the school opened in 1994 and the Timberwolves took third and fifth his junior and senior years.

He knows what it takes to be successful at state. That explains his enthusiasm going into today’s opening round of the State 5A tournament (see the state preview box on the Prep Page).

“I told our seniors that I’ve been there. I’ve lost them and I’ve won them,” Beadell said. “There’s no other feeling like it to win at state. You have to be peaking at the right time and have a little luck on your side. It’s three games in three days. It’s intense.”

Lake City is one of five teams that qualified for state from North Idaho. Three teams from the area captured trophies last year. Most if not all of the teams could bring home a trophy this weekend.

“To reach what our team goal has been since Aug. 7, we’ve got to play 240 minutes, or however long it takes if we have overtimes or shootouts,” Beadell said.

It will take the best soccer LC (16-1-1) has played this year, if not better.

The T-Wolves have battled through injuries, and they’ll have to do so again at state. They lost senior defender Jake Williamson, one of the team’s top stoppers, to a broken leg in LC’s 3-0 win over Coeur d’Alene in the 5A Region I title match.

“Some of the guys are down about Jake,” Beadell said. “It’s a very big loss. He was one of our studs. But we’ve got to pick up the slack. We need guys to step up and play their best soccer.”

Beadell will tweak his defense to try to cover for the loss. Senior forward Tim Schreiber, who also was feared lost for state after straining a ligament in a foot, is expected to play.

“I gave the guys three days off,” Beadell said following the win over CdA. “We were tired and beat up. They needed to get away from soccer and relax.”

When LC returned to practice Monday, Beadell sensed his team is poised to make a run at state.

“We’re ready to go,” Beadell said.

Senior midfielder Brandon Wood, who has played through injuries, believes the T-Wolves are prepared to capture a trophy after coming close last year.

“Teams down south don’t think much of the north, but I think when we get down there we’ll show them that we can play soccer,” Wood said. “We just need to keep playing like we have and play as hard as we can. It takes every player on the field.”

Junior forward Evan Palo agreed.

“We want to bring a trophy home,” Palo said. “All year we’ve been building up to this. We’ll be a major threat at state. Our confidence is up. We can win it. We just need to be on the same page.”