Five Bulldogs garner 4A All-IEL girls soccer honors

SANDPOINT — Senior defender Madi Schoening was named Most Valuable Player, part of a strong showing of Bulldogs on the 4A All-Inland Empire League girls soccer team, as voted on recently by the league’s coaches.

Schoening earned the award despite missing part of the season with an injury, a testament to her impact on the both the team the league in general.

Paige DuMars, who posted five shutouts in goal and didn’t allow a single tally in four league wins, also made the team, joined by senior Riley Couch (two goals, two assists), senior Caroline Suppiger (five goals, two assists), and junior defender Taylor Ward.

Head coach Conor Baranski, who was named Coach of the Year, on what each player did to earn their spot in the all-league team:

n Madi Schoening — “Madi has a presence on the field that few, if anyone, can match. As a center back, it is rare that a player gets around her, and if a player does get around her, you can count on Madi to catch up pretty darn quick. Her speed and athleticism help immensely, but I think it’s her drive and determination to win that sets her apart from her peers. Some people may be surprised at her getting MVP, since she missed a big chunk of the season, but it was actually Lakeland’s coach that was adamant about giving her MVP.”

n Paige DuMars — “Paige has become one of the best keepers in the state. All I ask of my keepers is that they make one big save a game, and Paige does far more than that. She single-handedly got us our tie against Lake City, as she made a ton of big saves in that game. She also got us our second win against Lakeland, in Rathdrum, by making literally the only save that was necessary that game. But it was a hugely necessary save.”

n Riley Couch — “She is so versatile that she excels wherever I put her. She ended up being our left back to make extra sure our defense was rock solid at the end of the season, but even in the state tournament I ended up moving her up to center mid. So, huge credit goes to her since she didn’t ever have a set position on the team since I moved her constantly. She also never complained about any of it, and just got the work done.”

n Caroline Suppiger — “Caroline was our point forward this year. In our games where we were able to find her, we tended to have success on attack. In games where we didn’t find her, we tended to struggle on attack. She’s great at playing with her back to goal, and that makes it nice on our other players, to be able to find her feet as an easy option.”

n Taylor Ward — “Taylor was legitimately the rock of the team, defensively. With Madi being injured for a large part of the season, Taylor had to step up significantly. She had to be the leader of a young defensive line a lot of the time, and that meant being physical, strong and demanding of her teammates.”

4A Inland Empire League girls soccer team

n MVP — Madi Schoening, Spt, 12.

n Newcomer of the Year — Tia Vierling, Mos, 10.

n Goalkeeper of the Year — Dani Dowd/Morgan Bixenstein, LL, 11 (both). LHS - 11 (Both)

n Coach of the year — Conor Baranski, Spt.

All league: Paige DaMars, Spt, 12; Riley Couch, Spt, 12; Caroline Suppiger, Spt, 12; Taylor Ward, Spt, 11; Phoebe White, Mos, 12; Nina Cook-Gallardo, Mos, 11; Emma Prall, Mos, 11; Melodee Skalskiy, LL, 11; Maddy Murn, LL, 12; Harley Hendry, LL, 11; Sofia Schnepf, LL, 10.