Cooper, Stanley earn All-Inland Empire League honors
SANDPOINT — Led by senior Jared Cooper, who was named the Defensive Player of the Year, the Bulldogs landed five player on the 4A All-Inland Empire League boys soccer team, as voted on recently by the league’s coaches.
Cooper, whose experience helped anchor the defense, joined senior Kyle Stanley, sophomores Amos Crossingham and Dawson Mulder and junior goalie Kyle Hertel in garnering league honors.
Stanley finished with a team-high seven goals from his midfield position, Mulder added three goals and two assists along with a strong work rate, Crossingham added a pair of goals and Hertel four shutouts for the Bulldogs.
Sandpoint head coach Adam Tajan on what each did to earn a spot on the all-league team:
• Jared Cooper — “Jared was our anchor in the back this season. He provided experience and leadership for a young team with very few seniors. He’s fast, athletic, vocal and did a great job of organizing our back line.”
• Kyle Stanley — “Mr. Versatile. Kyle can play in a variety of positions and he was asked to do that all year. He’s got a nasty shot from long range, he’s got good vision and is a decent distributor of the ball. He was also a guy we used to mark players out of the game when necessary.”
• Amos Crossingham — “Amos has tremendous speed on the dribble. He’s very dangerous when given space or put in 1v1 situations. Amos was just heating up as our season ended. He’ll be a marked man next fall.”
• Dawson Mulder — “Dawson proved he can be a threat in a variety of ways. He has developed into an excellent wing player with the ability to take players on, cross, or cut inside for a shot. He’s also our best player in the air. He scored several goals off headers this fall.”
• Kyle Hertel — “In the past year, Kyle has developed into one of the top goalkeepers in the region. He’s got al the physical attributes — big, strong, athletic. Kyle has significant experience as a field player which helps him read the game and better understand his role as communicator and organizer.”
4A boys
MVP — Dru Bogden, sr., Moscow
Offensive Player of the Year — Alec Martin, sr., Moscow
Defensive Player of the Year — Jared Cooper, sr., Sandpoint
Goalkeeper of the Year — Cade Coffey, sr., Lakeland
Newcomer of the Year — Nacho Pino, sr., Lakeland
Coach of the Year — Richard Gayler, Moscow
MOSCOW — Ben Ting, jr., George Beyerlin, sr., Joe Ewers, so., Joey Cook-Gallardo, jr. SANDPOINT — Amos Crossingham, so., Dawson Mulder, so., Kyle Hertel, jr., Kyle Stanley, sr. LAKELAND — Cody Callahan, jr., Daniel McDevitt, jr., Owen Shelton, jr.