Bulldog boys bounced from state in shootout

CALDWELL — Anything can happen when a soccer game ends in a shootout, and the Bulldogs found that out the hard way on Friday in a 1-0 shootout loss to host Caldwell in the semis of the 4A boys soccer tournament at Brothers Park.

After 80 minutes of regulation and two overtime periods failed to yield a score, the game went to the dreaded shootout, with Caldwell (14-4-3) winning 3-1 on penalty kicks.

Head coach Evan McNeley called the loss a tough one, but had nothing but high praise for how his team competed in defeat.

“I’m extremely proud of how the boys played, and their character after the game,” said McNeley. “They felt like they should have won the game, I felt like they should have won the game. It came down to PKs, and it’s luck of the dice when you go down to PKs.”

The Bulldogs (13-2-2) were tough as nails defensively, led by defenders Tanner Kohal, Max Edmundson and Terron Tvrdy. Steady goalie Julian Reichold made two big saves in overtime to extend the game.

Edmundson broke his nose in the first half on a high foot, but toughed it out and played the rest of the game. McNeley had high praise for the play of his defense, especially Tvrdy.

“I thought Terron played out of his mind, MVP of the game for me. His willingness to want the ball all the time,” described McNeley. “He was isolated against one of their best players the whole game, and he completely shut him down.”

In the shootout, Noah Hastings went first for the Bulldogs and missed wide, while Caldwell hit their PK. Edmundson took the next shot, which was stopped by the Caldwell keeper. Caldwell hit the post on their next attempt, before Luke Koch buried his PK. After Christian Dressel drilled the crossbar on his attempt, Caldwell hit the winning PK after their player appeared to have stopped and gone backward on his approach, which is against the rules.

Alas, winning a shootout is often as much about luck and handling nerves as anything else. With a huge home crowd on hand, the Bulldogs were unable to play spoiler and advance to the final.

“We had a couple chances in overtime in their box. We had chances to win the game outright, and we didn’t do it,” lamented McNeley. “We showed relentless attack. They were on their heels at the end of the game. We just couldn’t put the final punch in.”

Sandpoint will face Ridgevue (18-2-2), which lost 2-1 to Wood River in the other semi, at noon today in the third place game at Brothers Park.