Behind two goals from captain Kaden Palmer, Thunder Ridge ends regular season with victory over Madison
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IDAHO FALLS — Despite relentless pressure from the Thunder Ridge attack, the Madison defense held strong through the first 40 minutes sending Tuesday’s conference showdown to halftime a scoreless tie.
Eventually though, the Titans (14-1-1, 7-0-1) found openings for three goals after the break to secure a 3-1 victory in their regular season finale.
Thunder Ridge head coach Logan Murri said he was happy with how his team “figured it out” in the second half.
“The first half wasn’t as good as we should’ve been, but in the second half, we pulled it out and played better,” he said. “Three second-half goals — we’ll take it.”
Leading the offensive effort for the Titans was senior captain Kaden Palmer, who netted the opening salvo in the 41st minute. He followed quickly, putting his second past Madison goalie Michael Williams in the 48th minute.
Murri spoke about Palmer’s goals, saying the senior has been huge for the team all year.
“Kaden’s been an asset all season — he’s a beast,” Murri said. “He plays super-hard all the time, he’s an example for the other teammates. He’s had multiple games with multiple goals this season.”
The Bobcats (4-8-4, 3-4-1) were on their heals most of the game, forced to focus on slowing the Thunder Ridge attack rather than creating one of their own. They put just five shots on goal, to Thunder’s 14.
Williams had his hands full, recording 11 saves.
Madison did finally find its offense late in the game, when Max Thueson put them on the scoreboard in the 77th minute.
The Bobcats rushed back to midfield with limited time to get the equalizer, but Thunder Ridge got that goal right back when Williams was unable to control his final save of the game leaving a free ball in front of the net for Thunder’s Cade Jorgensen, who flicked it home in the 79th minute.
With the loss, Madison sealed its spot as No. 3 in the 6A High Country Conference, behind Canyon Ridge (6-3-3, 3-2-2) and the conference champion Titans.
According to Murri, Thunder Ridge, as of Tuesday evening, did not know who they would be facing when the district playoffs begin Saturday. But, he added, as soon as he knows who his team will face, the prep work will begin.
“We need to go game to game,” he said. “Every game matters, obviously. Today was senior night so we wanted to make sure we had a good performance, give the seniors a good game.”