Hutto nets game winner for Bulldogs

MOSCOW — Jezza Hutto scored her sixth goal of the season in the 13th minute, and the Bulldogs did what they came to do, beating the Bears 1-0 on Thursday in 4A Inland Empire League soccer in Moscow.

The Bulldogs (10-3-1, 4-0 4A IEL) secured the No. 1 seed, and first round bye and home field advantage for the upcoming district tournament. Hutto’s goal came off a nice cross from Riley Walkington, who picked up her ninth assist on what would end up being the early game winner.

Sandpoint out-shot Moscow 16-1, and controlled possession for much of the game, which is what Bulldog head coach Conor Baranski was expecting. It was the third win in three days for the Bulldogs, a nice test run for what they’ll have to do at state to win a title.

“Moscow played a similar game to last time, pretty defensive. We didn’t really have to get out of third gear,” said Baranski. “I was able to rest a bunch of our key players. We did what we needed to do, and we’ll take our momentum from three games, three wins, in three nights.

The Bulldogs will face the winner of Moscow and Lakeland next Wednesday in the 4A Region 1 Championship.