Community School girls get ready for next step<font size=2>Lady Cutthroats head to State Tourney</font>
By JON MENTZER<br><i>Times-News</i>

If there were one way to describe the Community Cutthroat girls&#039; soccer team, it would be resilient.  After losing a handful of seniors last season and having only four returning seniors, the Lady Cutthroats weren&#039;t supposed to make it this far. But here they are, fixing to play Shelley in the opening round of the Class 3A Idaho State Soccer Tournament.
The Lady Cutthroats won their district tournament, but lost to Buhl, 4-3, in regionals.
The Community School (12-6-1, 10-1-1) will have its hands full when it takes on Shelley, which limped along the entire season, but came on strong during their district tournament. Finishing with a mediocre record (7-6-4, 2-3-1), the Shelley Russets shutout both Sugar-Salem and Teton to make into the state tournament. 
The win over Teton is a notable win since Teton won the Mountain Rivers Conference and is also the defending state champs.
At the high school level all teams are valid in the state tournament. Regardless of who plays who, the competition is always fierce and every game will be the most important one of the season.
Community School coach Kelly Feldman believes her team is also hitting their stride at just the right time.
&#8220;They&#039;re excited,&#8221; Feldman said. &#8220;We&#039;re a very young team and it should be interesting to see how they respond to the game.&#8221;
The Cutthroats started the season off sluggish going 2-4-1 to begin the season including three-shutout losses. But after their loss to Wood River, the Lady Cutthroats began to click just in time to turn the season around and won four straight games, and in the process went 10-1 to finish the season.
&#8220;I think we&#039;re hitting our stride at just the right time of the season,&#8221; Feldman added.
These two teams have a bit of history as well. In last year&#039;s state tournament, Shelley beat Community School 1-0 in the first round, which send the Lady Cutthroats into the consolation game in which they ultimately lost to Snake River. Shelley didn&#039;t fare much better after their first round win over the Lady Cutthroats, but the sting from the loss is still there. 
&#8220;They beat us last year and we still remember that,&#8221; Feldman said. 
Feldman also added that Shelley shouldn&#039;t be taken lightly as well.
&#8220;We&#039;re going to keep doing what we&#039;ve been doing,&#8221; Feldman said about what her team will work on during practice. &#8220;I don&#039;t think we&#039;re going to change too much.&#8221;
Even with the loss to Buhl in regionals, Feldman also believes that it was a blessing in disguise. The Lady Cutthroats know what to see in a big game atmosphere. Having a young team on the field, not many players have postseason experience.
&#8220;Buhl gave them a sense of what to expect in these types of big games,&#8221; Feldman said. 
Buhl is no slouch of a team either; the Indians have the top seed in the tournament and will face Fruitland in the first round. 
The Lady Cutthroats kick off the first round of the tournament against Shelley on Thursday at Vallivue High School in Caldwell at 2 p.m.

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