Sandpoint girls open state tourney bid today
SANDPOINT - Sometimes less is more.
It's an old axiom, but one Sandpoint girls soccer coach Adam Tajan hopes holds true when the Bulldogs open the 5A state tournament today against Capital High School of Boise.
In a cruel twist of irony, Sandpoint will be without the services of its leading scorer in Bailey Hewitt, the Clark Fork player responsible for bumping the Bulldogs up to the 5A classification, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last week against Coeur d'Alene.
While Tajan admits it's tough to lose one of the top players in the state, he's not so sure it makes Sandpoint any worse. He points to wins against GSL power Lewis and Clark, as well as Coeur d'Alene in the district championship game, as two instances when the Bulldogs rose to the occasion without Hewitt.
"We're a different team, as good, just different," says Tajan, admitting Hewitt will be missed. "She brings a huge offensive threat and energy in so many different ways."
Stepping into Hewitt's role as center mid will be freshman Ellie Engel, who will team with Brittany Oakley, Annie Vogel and Elle Kiselica to spearhead the Bulldogs' attack. Hewitt scored 17 goals this season, and no other Sandpoint player tallied five, but Tajan believes he's got plenty of firepower ready to step up.
The Bulldogs will have another adjustment to make in playing on the recently installed artificial turf at Meridian High School, a surface foreign to Sandpoint.
"We had a little questionnaire saying 'do you approve of this field or not?', and obviously we don't," says Tajan, adding it makes no sense. "It puts us at a total disadvantage. Not only do we have to travel 10 hours, and go play in their house, but we've also got to deal with their field conditions. I don't know, maybe it'll make us fight harder and work harder. Any time your back's up against the wall, you tend to respond."
Defensively, Sandpoint's back four of Liz Stone, Alicia Mertz, Sandy Whalen and Kendall Stratton, along with goalie Kelsey Windju, are battle tested against a host of top Spokane schools, similar to the level they'll see at state.
"Nobody expects us to run the table, which takes the pressure off," says Tajan, whose team knows more of what to expect in its second trip to the 5A tournament. "We're ready to write that little story that nobody expects. Every game will be tight, with few chances.
"Can we finish our chances?"
Sandpoint (13-3-4) takes on Capital (14-2-2) in the opener this morning at 9:30 a.m. at Meridian High School.