Driven by runner-up finishes, SHS girls soccer aims for a state title

Just as the Greek god Zeus made Sisyphus push a boulder uphill endlessly, the high school soccer gods have put Sandpoint girls soccer through a similar conundrum.

The Bulldogs have pushed a boulder uphill for the past three seasons. They’ve put in the offseason work; built momentum as they’ve rolled over foes, ranging from IEL teams, to Spokane schools to regional 5A teams; sent a plethora of players on the all-league lists and advanced through the 4A state tournament bracket — only to see their work undone at the top of the hill.

Predictably, this consistency brings lofty expectations and pressure, both seen and unseen.

While making state in any sport is a feat in itself — not to mention bringing home a team trophy — the current Bulldogs senior class wants to get over the hill. The five seniors on the roster have seen each of their seasons end in 3-1, 2-1 and 2-1 losses — all at the hands of Bishop Kelly.

“Every time I do fitness and need to push myself, that’s the thing I think of to make me work harder. I’m not kidding,” Sandpoint senior Emi Lynch, who has been on the past three runner-up teams, said. “People like Riley [Walkington], Jezza [Hutto], Mya [Darling] and Yeo [Yarnell] and all of those seniors said last year that you don’t know how much it means until you’re a senior. I’ve always been like, ‘Okay, we’ll get it next year.’ But now it’s like, ‘Oh crap, we really need to win this year.’”

“I really want to win and I’ve never wanted to win more.”

Predictably, that mindset has permeated throughout the roster.

Players like sophomore Emma Thielbahr, who won the 4A IEL Newcomer of the Year award with her strong finish last season, might not have the same history with the school down south, yet last year’s state championship game has given her motivation as well.

“Every game this season, we need to work harder to get to that point where we can beat them at state,” Thielbahr said. “Every practice, every time we have to do fitness, it’s all towards one goal.”

Sandpoint head coach Conor Baranski has had his fair share of state championship success both as a player and as a coach, so he understands the challenges his team has faced; the performance psychology teacher is also cognizant of the mental toll the runner-up finishes have taken on the players.

“I think some of our players have built Bishop Kelly, in particular, up into something that they aren’t,” Sandpoint head coach Conor Baranski said. “Conversely, when I won state the first time, that team had missed out on state the year before and had not played Bishop Kelly in a few years, so they didn’t have any preconceived notions. They just went in there, knew they were a good team and won.”

But the Bulldogs haven’t kept their heads down.

Although the girls soccer team loses one of the more talented senior classes the program has ever seen, the returning varsity players have welcomed in the newcomers, created a team-wide trust throughout the offseason open plays and preseason practices.

Trust, as usual, will be paramount.

Personnel-wise, Sandpoint has the unenviable task of nearly replacing the entire back line around the aforementioned Thielbahr, whose aggressiveness matched some of the best players Baranski has ever coached.

The eighth-year head coach recognized this trait of Thielbahr’s early on, as she wasn’t afraid to make a clean tackle on all-state midfielder Riley Walkington ­— who now plays on scholarship at Eastern Washington University — in practice last season.

“With Emma, the bigger the stage, the bigger the game or the better the competition, she rises,” Baranski said. “I remember the first practice we had last year, she tackled Riley [Walkington], one of the most talented players to come through our program, with this really strong, fair tackle. And she just walked away as if it wasn’t a big deal. I had never seen her play before, so I was sitting there thinking, ‘Wow, that’s something.’ It encapsulated her perfectly; that is exactly who she is.”

While losing collegiate-level athletes like Walkington and Lewis & Clark College’s newest defender Jezza Hutto will be difficult no matter what, Baranski is confident in the team’s returning talent — especially of the current senior class’ assumption of their leadership roles.

“In my first years here I was always worried about that, but what I’ve found in my seven previous seasons is that the next group always steps up,” Baranski said. “That class was extraordinarily talented, but we’re going to be fine.”

The Bulldogs will get some help from newcomers too. Central Valley (Spokane) junior transfer Kendall Rubright will be stepping into a starting center back role. In addition, freshman Kelsey Cessna has impressed Baranski in the early season so far.

“She is big, athletic and aggressive, so she’ll probably be one of our attackers or defenders — as ironic as that is,” Baranski said. “Being a small town, I usually have a notion of players before they get there, but she has been a pleasant surprise.”

The biggest difference between this season and last is the goalkeeping situation.

Rising junior Hattle Larson, a recent Eastern Washington verbal commit, will be the “undisputed number one” keeper this year. Instead of splitting halves like she did last season, Larson will take on goalkeeping duties full-time; the program’s remaining three keepers will split time on junior varsity unless their services are needed.

As the new leader of the defense, Larson is complimentary of her fellow keepers, especially noting the progress freshman Kameron Nadeja has made early in her career.

“I have probably been practicing with Kameron for a year and a half now, and she’s really grown more confident in herself this season,” Larson said.

All in all, the team chemistry in the early goings has been a bright spot for Baranski, who has been complimentary of the team’s positivity.So far, the seniors have set the tone for the harmony on the team.

To wit, the five seniors approached Baranski in the offseason and asked if all five of them could be captains — not just a handful of them — in order to keep their identity as a unit. The meaning behind the gesture was enough for the head coach to honor the quintet’s success.

“I think what makes successful teams is the team itself,” Lynch said. “We’ve worked a lot more on team bonding and visualization and getting to know each other.”

For now, the Bulldogs will continue their season by playing nearby 5A schools Post Falls on Sept. 3, then Lake City on Sept. 5 — the latter of which is a game some of the returners are looking forward to. The Timberwolves were the only non-Bishop Kelly Idaho team to beat the Bulldogs last season, so the team is looking for revenge.

“I’m excited to play Lake City,” Thielbahr said. “Last year we lost to them on our home turf and I want to redeem ourselves, beat them and show them that Sandpoint knows what’s up.”

Who knows. Perhaps a revenge season of sorts could be the motivation the Bulldogs need to push the boulder over that hill.