Photo Credit: Julian Jenkins, GameFrame Photography
CLASS 6A
RETURNING ALL-STATE PERFORMERS
Ammar Kapidzic, Mountain View (Senior Defender, 1st Team All-State)
Jordan “Junior” Farini, Borah (Senior Forward, 2nd Team All-State)
Amjed Salim, Mountain View (Senior Forward, 2nd Team All-State)
CLASSIFICATION OUTLOOK
No matter how you slice it up, the Class 6A boys soccer landscape will be dramatically different in 2026.
For starters, there will be a new state champion, regardless of which team holds up the blue trophy at the end of the state tournament in October. That’s because Caldwell, the reigning champ, has dropped back down to the 5A level.
The sixth-seeded Cougars nipped third-seeded Mountain View in the first round on penalty kicks. The two sides played to a 1-1 draw before Caldwell outscored the Mavs 4-2 on PKs.
Second-seeded Thunder Ridge was Caldwell’s semifinal victim, as the Cougars earned a tense 1-0 decision.
Then, in the championship, Caldwell slayed another higher-seeded opponent, fourth-seeded Borah. Tied at 0-0, the state championship went to penalty kicks, where Caldwell prevailed, 4-3.
Needless to say, there are several teams entering 2026 with the motto of “unfinished business.”
Let’s start with Borah, the runners-up from 2025. Coach Brian Shields said goodbye to 17 seniors, which leaves just three players with any varsity experience. Junior forward Levi Cornett, sophomore midfielder Isa Tukavic and senior left back Jordan “Junior” Farini (an All-State selection) will form the nucleus of this year’s team.
“We’ll have to see what kind of chemistry this young team has,” said Shields. “We need to build confidence throughout the season.”
Borah’s chief rival, Boise High, is in a slightly better spot entering the season. The Brave entered last year’s state tournament as the eighth seed and immediately scored a first-round upset over top-seeded Rocky Mountain. Xabi Robertson scored the golden goal in double overtime to lead Boise to the 2-1 win. Robertson will be a senior this year.
Their semifinal matchup with Borah was scoreless through two overtime periods, so the contest went to penalty kicks. Borah won the shootout 3-2, sending Boise to the third-place match against Thunder Ridge. Again, through two overtime periods the score was 0-0, so for the third time in three matches, Boise went to a shootout. The Brave outlasted the Titans 6-5 on PKs, and brought home the third-place trophy. Boise lost seven seniors to graduation. Key members of this year’s team include senior keeper Aiden Kemp and senior midfielder Jackson Hill.
How about Mountain View? The Mavs won the consolation trophy at state last season, defeating Owyhee 5-1 in the consolation final. Southern Idaho Conference Player of the Year Jace Obenchain graduated, as did two-time All-SIC selection Gerard Alimasi.
However, the Mavs can lean on two seniors who garnered All-State honors in 2025: forward Amjed Salim and defender Amar Kapidzick. Senior keeper Juju Pemany and junior midfielder Jayten Duppong are also key returnees for third-year coach Alex Saldana.
“We’ll be a young team,” Saldana noted. “A lot of our players will need to adapt and mature quickly.”
Saldana said collective buy-in from all of the varsity newcomers this year will be critical to Mountain View’s season.
Then, just to drive the point home, he added, “We’re young, which means we will have something to build on for a few years to come. The downside? We’re young.”
Owyhee is yet another SIC team that qualified for state last season and are preparing to make another deep run in 2026. The Storm fell to Mountain View in the consolation final and will have to replace center back Greyson Pew, center mid Jordan Shupe and both goal keepers, Corbon Gill and Nolan Arnold.
But third-year coach Darion Green has a nice talent base to build around, starting with junior forward Dane Lau. A trio of seniors with starting experience (center back Christian Zanitto, center mid Josue Kuzindilla and forward Moise Kuzindilla) also return.
“Our strengths this year are going to be our attack with many returning players and starters,” said Green. “We’re going to be able to high press teams and fly on counter-attacks. Our x-factor will be if we can get everyone to buy in to defending as a unit together.”
Rocky Mountain carried the top overall seed into last year’s 6A state tournament, but following a 2-1 loss in double OT to Boise and a 1-0 setback to Owyhee, the Grizzlies were two-and-barbecue.
17 seniors departed, so like many others in the SIC, Rocky Mountain will almost be starting from scratch. Senior midfielders Taif Alsaadi and Kevin Juarez, along with junior forward Marshall Nicolas, will be tasked with bringing a young group of newcomers along.
Despite missing out on last year’s state tournament, multiple coaches pointed to Centennial and Timberline as potential breakouts in this year’s SIC race. Senior defender JoJo St. Pierre and senior midfield Rhys Ford will lead Timberline into battle in 2026. Centennial junior midfielder Oscar Caro is the lone All-SIC player returning, but the Patriots’ coaching staff was lauded by nearly every other coach in the conference.
In East Idaho, there is a changing of the guard at Thunder Ridge. After four seasons at the helm of the Titans program, Logan Murri announced his retirement this past spring. Murri guided Thunder Ridge to 65 wins, ten losses and five draws during his time, by far the most successful stretch of soccer in school history.
Replacing Murri at Thunder Ridge is longtime Madison coach Dan Dummar. Dummar inherits a squad that returns sophomore midfielder Kai Redd, the High Country Conference Player of the Year as a freshman in 2025. Also back are senior forward Aaron Lasley, junior forward Logan Leishmann, senior forward Cesar Diaz, senior defender Tanner Layton, sophomore defender Steven Paz and senior keeper Steven West. All six earned individual postseason honors.
Dummar’s old school, Madison, will rely on senior midfielder Cannon Kugath.
Canyon Ridge was the other representative from the High Country Conference last season. The Riverhawks unsuccessfully petitioned down to the 5A level, so the District 4 school will once again have to play with the East Idaho squads in Districts 5 and 6. Four All-Conference players return for Canyon Ridge: senior forward Jonas Saka, junior forward Wasumba Bolemo, junior midfielder Cooper Nickell and junior keeper Jaxon Corujo.
North Idaho was completely shut out of last year’s 6A state tournament, as District 1 champion Coeur d’Alene lost to Boise in a state play-in game, 2-1. “We are yet to get over that hump of qualifying for state,” said coach Robbie Harmelink. “We are hoping to improve in our defensive solidity and creativity attacking-wise.”
Harmelink will have to figure out how to replace team captain Jaxon Fantozzi, a smooth center back. “Jaxon was a generational talent for any program,” said Harmelink. “We were blessed to have him lead our team last year in play and character on and off the field. We will miss his integrity, passion and courage.”
Harmelink anticipates having a large senior class to build around this year, headlined by returning all-Inland Empire League standouts Brett Johnson, Isaac Lowder and Jacob Melun. “We are expecting a big senior class numbers-wise,” said Harmelink. “Each of those seniors, along with a couple of our younger players, will be key players in our march towards qualifying and fighting for state.”
Standing directly in Coeur d’Alene’s way are Lake City and Post Falls, their IEL rivals. Lake City sophomore Jax Molenaar was the IEL Newcomer of the Year as a freshman in 2025, while Post Falls sophomore Griffin Dooley is a returning all-league performer.
CLASS 5A
RETURNING ALL-STATE PERFORMERS
Luis Alonso, Caldwell (Senior Midfielder, 1st Team All-State)
Sergio Gaxiola, Caldwell (Senior Defender, 1st Team All-State)
Landon Brinkmeier, Sandpoint (Senior Goalkeeper, 1st Team All-State)
Walter Romero, Caldwell (Senior Midfielder, 2nd Team All-State)
Quintin Avila, Jerome (Senior Midfielder, 2nd Team All-State)
Miguel Chavez, Shelley (Senior Forward, 2nd Team All-State)
Hayden Gvozdas, Wood River (Senior Midfielder, 2nd Team All-State)
CLASSIFICATION OUTLOOK
Wood River took home the 5A title last season after defeating Nampa in the opening round, 5-0. The Wolverines then topped Sandpoint in the semifinals, 3-2 in overtime and Vallivue in the championship, 5-0.
Wolverines coach Greg Gvozdas enters his fourth season at Wood River, and he’s done a nice job of building strong depth throughout the program. So while the loss of 5A Player of the Year Reidar Slotten, and All-State selections Mateo de la Torre, Zack Torres, Ryan Tenold, Alberto Romo and Jackson Wallace stings, they have a nice base of talent returning as well.
Senior Hayden Gvozdas is back to play midfielder, and senior forward Wyatt Gilmour returns also. Senior Alejandro Romero can play both forward and midfielder, and senior keeper Elian Servin is rock solid on the back end.
Finding a couple of back line defenders to protect Servin will be critical, although junior Jerry Perez, a relative newcomer, has been turning heads early.
“The boys have a passion to play and that is a foundational piece of our culture and playing style,” said coach Gvozdas. “I’m excited for the opportunity for new players to showcase their talent.”
Wood River’s path to a Great Basin Conference regular season title won’t be easy. “Jerome, Twin Falls and Burley will all be strong,” said coach Gvozdas.
The Bruins joined Wood River at state a year ago and ended up bringing home the third-place trophy with a 2-1 win over Sandpoint. Seniors Jake Gleckler and Kesh Pohlman will lead the Bruins into battle in 2026.
Jerome went 9-5-3 a season ago and narrowly missed out on a trip to state. The Tigers welcome back senior midfielder Quintin Avila, an All-State selection, and the Tigers have showcased incredible depth and versatility in recent seasons.
Burley played a younger lineup during their 8-8-3 campaign in 2025, but that on-the-job training will serve them well this year. Four All-Conference selections return for the Bobcats: senior Jorge Contreras, and juniors Grant Payne, Darey Rojas and Julian Cardenas.
Vallivue dominated District 3’s Southern Idaho Conference last season, finishing 17-2 overall and carrying the number one seed into the state tournament. The Falcons’ only regular season loss came to eventual 6A champ Caldwell by a 2-0 score. Their second and final loss came to Wood River in the state championship game.
Luis Soto makes the switch from coaching Vallivue’s girls to Vallivue’s boys. He’ll lean on junior midfielders Elijah Grimaldo and Josiah Duran.
Nampa joined Vallivue at state last year from the SIC. The Bulldogs had to defeat Lewiston in a state play-in game to get there and finished 1-2 overall. Nampa defeated Skyline in a loser out game, 3-2, before falling to Blackfoot in the consolation final. The Broncos and Bulldogs were tied at 3-3 and had to settle the score with penalty kicks, where Blackfoot prevailed 4-3. Senior midfielder Damian Silva and sophomore keeper Athoz Grimaldo are names to watch at Nampa this year.
Any discussion about the SIC can’t be held without acknowledging that Caldwell has returned after a two-year stop in 6A. The Cougars won the 6A championship in dramatic fashion last season and will instantly become a favorite in District 3. Three All-State seniors return for Caldwell this year: forward Walter Romero, midfielder Luis Alonso and defender Sergio Gaxiola.
Soccer in North Idaho has always been strong, and Sandpoint’s history of success illustrates that. The Bulldogs have won eight boys soccer championships overall and pushed eventual champ Wood River in last year’s semifinals before dropping the match in overtime, 3-2.
Coach Daniel Anderson enters his third season at Sandpoint and will have to replace four starters who graduated. “Logan McGrann is now heading to play at Whitworth University (in Washington),” said Anderson. “His presence in the midfield will be greatly missed. Caiden Gion and Isaac Schmit, our center backs, also just graduated. We also lost Huxley Hall, and he was our main goal scorer the past two seasons.”
But six talented starters return: senior goalkeeper Landon Brinkmeier, junior midfielders Pax Longanecker and Dixon Reed, senior defender Brennan Shaw, junior defender Gus Penrose and sophomore forward Wesley Drube.
“We will be a very well-rounded team that doesn’t rely too much on individuals,” said Anderson. “We are a very hard working team that battles for each other and relishes representing the city of Sandpoint.”
He added, “As always, we will be looking to peak come tournament time in October.”
Lewiston finished second to Sandpoint in last year’s Inland Empire League and lost to Nampa in a 5A state tournament play-in game. “Lewiston should continue to build on last season’s success and surprise some people this year,” said Anderson.
Blackfoot and Skyline represented District 6’s High Country Conference at state in 2025. The Grizzlies, just 9-9-4 a season ago, caught lightning in a bottle at the district tournament. The fourth-seeded Grizz nipped third-seeded Shelley in a loser-out game on penalty kicks and then toppled top-seeded Idaho Falls 3-1 in the third-place match to advance to state.
In fact, Idaho Falls failing to advance to state was one of the most shocking developments statewide last year. The Tigers went 12-3-2 last season and 9-0-1 in HCC play. But Idaho Falls was blanked by Blackfoot in the district championship 3-0, and then the Tigers were stunned by Skyline.
Skyline went two-and-out at state, but Blackfoot rebounded from a first-round loss to Twin Falls on PKs to win the consolation trophy.
Further muddying the waters in the High Country Conference this year is the inclusion of District 5 schools Century and Pocatello. Pocatello won the South East Idaho Conference last year, but went two-and-out at state. Now they and the Diamondbacks join forces with District 6 to make the High Country Conference an eight-team league in 2026.
Players to watch in East Idaho this year include: Blackfoot’s Riley Fransen, Bonneville’s Kayson Landon, Hillcrest’s Careter Dodelin and Maddox Sandoval, Idaho Falls’ Zach Sleight, Shelley’s Miguel Chavez and Skyline’s Fabian Vivar. All are seniors.
CLASS 4A
RETURNING ALL-STATE PERFORMERS
Creighton LeHosit, Coeur d’Alene Charter (Senior Defender, 1st Team All-State)
Taylor Smith, Coeur d’Alene Charter (Senior Midfielder, 1st Team All-State)
Eli Arndt, McCall-Donnelly (Junior Forward, 1st Team All-State)
Pietro Attolini, Coeur d’Alene Charter (Senior Midfielder, 2nd Team All-State)
Mayan Noble, Marsh Valley (Senior Goalkeeper, 2nd Team All-State)
Omar Alvarez, Parma (Senior Defender, 2nd Team All-State)
Micah Rowley, South Fremont (Junior Forward, 2nd Team All-State)
Santiago Franco, Teton (Senior Defender, 2nd Team All-State)
CLASSIFICATION OUTLOOK
Coeur d’Alene Charter has long been known as a soccer powerhouse, and yet, before 2025, all of the championship trophies belonged to the girls’ program.
No longer. One year after falling to Wendell in the state championship match, the Panthers returned with a vengeance in 2025, dispatching McCall-Donnelly 1-0 to win their first boys championship in school history.
The Panthers would like to remain atop the 4A soccer landscape, and they have the athletes to do so in 2026. “We have a strong senior class this year,” said sixth-year coach Craig Dagle. “They’ve played in numerous important and high-level games over the past two seasons.”
Three senior All-State selections highlight the returnees: midfielders Pietro Attolini and Taylor Smith, plus defender Creighton LeHosit. Smith was the MVP of the Intermountain League. Senior defender Sterfan Pawlik and junior forward Brooks Judd also started for the Panthers a year ago.
“We’ll need to score more this year, as our defense has taken a large hit with graduation,” said coach Dagle. Starting defenders Bridger Crawford and Liam Hughes are gone, and so is goalkeeper Mattis MacMillan.
Bonners Ferry also represented District 1-2 at state last year. The Badgers will be led by seniors Peyton Hinthorn and Aaron Tadlock.
Despite finishing 4-11-1 last year, Timberlake has also been identified by opposing coaches as a team with real potential heading into their second season with coach Trenton Goucher.
McCall-Donnelly experienced both sides of a state tournament nail-biter in 2025. After identical 2-1 wins over Bonners Ferry in the first round and Wendell in the semifinals, the Vandals fell to Coeur d’Alene Charter in the state final, 1-0.
High-flying junior forward Eli Arndt returns after scoring 17 goals for McCall-Donnelly last season. Senior Sebastian Carheden led the Vandals with 16 assists and will pair nicely with Arndt.
Joining McCall-Donnelly at state last year from District 3 was Ambrose. The Archers went 9-6-2 a year ago and fielded a varsity roster with five freshmen and nine sophomores. The future remains bright at Ambrose.
District 4 rivals Wendell and Sun Valley Community School knew there was a good chance they’d see each other at state. They thought it would come in the championship, but instead, the Trojans and Cutthroats duked it out for third place. Wendell, the state champion in 2024, took home third place in 2025 with a 2-0 shutout of the Community School.
Both teams were hit hard by graduation, as Community School senior Tommy Hovey is the only returning All-Conference player for either squad. But both teams can be confident in their ability to reload, as the entire High Desert Conference is affected by seniors leaving.
Buhl returns the highest number of All-Conference performers with three: senior Neryk Garcia-Barajas and sophomores Daniel Caliz and Reuben Cervantes Estrella.
Gooding finished third in the standings last year at 12-7-1 and welcomes back senior Hugo Rios and junior Angel Ocarranza.
For the past several years, District 6’s Mountain Rivers Conference has been criminally underrepresented at state, as both Sugar-Salem and Teton have fielded tournament-worthy teams. But the four team league (Firth and South Fremont also play in the MRC) has routinely received just one bid to state.
Last year, Teton (13-3-3) nipped Sugar-Salem (15-0-2) on penalty kicks to win the district championship. The two sides remained tied 1-1 after two overtime periods, and from there, the Timberwolves outshot the Diggers 4-3 on PKs.
At state, the Timberwolves fell by one goal to Sun Valley Community School, 3-2, but rallied to the consolation title via a pair of 2-1 wins over Marsh Valley and Bonners Ferry.
Nine All-Conference performers are back for Teton in 2026: seniors Trey Behrens, Santiago Franco, Paycen Hill, Kirby Martinez and Shea McGuire; along with juniors Vaughn Butler, Ian Haskell, Ian Mollenkof and Andrew Thomas.
For its part, Sugar-Salem brings back five All-MRC players: seniors Teig Gehmlich, Garett Rebernak and Colton Weekes; and juniors Martin Detoc and Zion Muyanja.
Marsh Valley won the District 5 crown last season and went two-and-out at state. The Eagles will battle with American Falls for supremacy in the South East Idaho Conference once again.