dthompson@journalnet.com

POCATELLO - Even a stiff headwind and a glaring sun couldn't halt Pocatello's dominance of its southern rival Preston.

After failing to score with the wind and sun at their backs in the first, the Pocatello Indians scored three times in the second half in a 3-0 victory over Preston on Thursday at Hawthorne Park in the opening game of the double-elimination 4A Fifth District tournament.

"When you don't score and you're with the wind for 40 minutes, it's pretty hard to bounce back," said Pocatello coach Adam Farsi. "Our guys did a good job."

The victory was Pocatello's third over Preston this season, and the southern Indians have yet to score a goal in those three contests.

Pocatello (6-5-4 overall) will visit Century at 1 p.m. Saturday. The loser of that game will host Preston (3-9-3) on Tuesday.

"It really comes down to playing consistently," Preston coach Brandon Lyon said. "At times in the year, we've played top-notch soccer, but for some reason, probably our three worst games were against these guys."

Preston withstood a series of early attacks in the first half when Pocatello was playing with a wind at its back. That gave Preston confidence it could finally get on track, Lyon said.

But the team never got rolling.

Four minutes into the second half, Preston turned over the ball inside its own box. Poky's Brendon Johnson got his foot on the ball and zipped it into the bottom left corner of the net. He spread his arms wide and ran back toward midfield in celebration.

On a similar play nine minutes later, Preston failed to clear the ball at least twice before junior Isaac Franz got a foot on it and fired a shot into the back of the net. That gave Poky a 2-0 lead even though it was playing against the wind.

"I'd be running, and it felt like I was going nowhere," Franz said of the wind.

Pocatello stayed on the offensive through the rest of the game, and Noah Bush headed in the team's final goal in the 64th minute.

Cameron Khang earned the clean sheet.

Now, Pocatello turns its focus to Century (7-1-5), which beat Pocatello 3-0 in their most recent meeting on Sept. 23.

"We're gonna have to pass the ball," Franz said. "We have to work together and be patient."