Former Bulldogs in action at NIC

SANDPOINT — If it seems like there is a lot of North Idaho College soccer gear around Sandpoint there is a good reason, as five former Sandpoint players will be suiting up for the Cardinal program this fall in Coeur d’Alene.

Freshman midfielder Shane Stanley and redshirt freshman Jeffrey Rokstad will join the men’s team, which went 6-6-3 last season.

Ellie Engel returns for her second season, after establishing herself as a starter as a freshman. She’ll join fellow former Bulldogs Meghan Pagano, a freshman forward, and Whitney Reichold, a freshman midfielder, on a Cardinal team looking to build off last season’s 9-4-2 record.

Sandpoint continues to put soccer players into area colleges, and the pipeline figures to continue as both the boys and girls teams feature some future college talent.

The North Idaho College men’s and women’s soccer teams will open the 2013 season on the road in Powell, Wyo., starting Saturday on the campus of Northwest College.

Both teams will face Dodge City Community College on Saturday — the men at 1 p.m. PDT, and women at 11 a.m. — then finish the road trip against host Northwest College on Sunday, starting with the women at 9 a.m. and the men at 11.