Sandpoint stomps Post Falls for second time this season
(Photo by DYLAN GREENE) Junior forward Jordie Breeden fires a shot on the Post Falls net during the second half Tuesday at Pine Street Field.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY) Senior midfielder Hannah Eddy fires a shot toward the Post Falls goal Tuesday at Pine Street Field.
(Photo courtesy of JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY) Freshman Kelsey Cessna tries to fight past a Post Falls defender during the second half Tuesday.
SANDPOINT — It’s Jordie Breeden’s world, we’re just living in it.
Tuesday night against Post Falls, the junior forward couldn’t be stopped. She slipped past Trojan defenders one-by-one like it was nothing, made driving to the net look easy and forced the Post Falls goalkeeper to contort her body every which way to keep the ball out of the goal.
In the first half alone, Breeden had about eight high quality scoring chances and fired the ball off the crossbar and the post once. Despite her efforts, she wasn’t able to score a goal until the 69th minute on a free kick where she hit a perfect ball right over the top of the outstretched arms of the goalkeeper and into the top left of the goal.
“I thought she was definitely at her best today,” Sandpoint head coach Conor Baranski said. “She got really unlucky to not have a hat trick, she hit I think every post. She was absolutely making things happen, created her own space and created space for others. She had an excellent game.”
And Breeden’s teammates made sure her performance didn’t come without a win, as Sandpoint girls soccer took down Post Falls 5-0.
The Bulldogs dominated the Trojans from the first kick of the game, but in the first half the scoreboard didn’t show it.
In the first minute, Breeden got a shot on goal and from there it seemed like the ball was on Post Falls side of the field for the entire first half.
Breeden, and seniors Hannah Eddy, Emi Lynch and Kiley Webster all had chances to score within the first 15 minutes of action, but they couldn’t convert.
The Trojans nearly scored the game’s opening goal in the 18th minute when Post Falls senior Katelyn Jesienouski hit a free kick off the top of the crossbar and the ball fell to the ground and started rolling into the net. Luckily, junior goalkeeper Hattie Larson grabbed the ball just before it crossed the line.
Sandpoint finally broke through in the 26th minute, when Webster found Eddy who sent a strike just inside the penalty box past the Post Falls goalkeeper.
Eddy wasn’t finished though and in the 38th minute she was able to create some space and place a shot into the top left corner of the net to make it 2-0 Sandpoint at halftime.
“Even though it was only 2-0 at halftime, I thought we were playing well, getting chances and making good decisions on attack,” Baranski said.
In the second half, Baranski decided to rest some of his starters and early on it showed as the Bulldogs were unable to generate as many scoring chances.
Then in the 61st minute, Baranski put Breeden, Eddy and a handful of other starters back into the game. Baranski said he decided to reinsert his starters partly because of the score.
“I was essentially managing everybody’s time but I wanted to get our starters back in there playing with each other,” Baranski said.
This moved sparked the Bulldogs offensive attack and eight minutes later Breeden scored her free kick goal to give Sandpoint a 3-0 advantage.
In the 71st minute, Breeden got inside the penalty box and dropped a pass off to Eddy who was unable to get a solid hit on the ball. But the ball bounced toward Lynch who buried the shot after the Post Falls goalkeeper decided not to come out and make a save.
Two minutes later, Breeden would create another scoring opportunity for the Bulldogs. She spun past a Post Falls defender and got to the right side of the goal where she fired a shot that slipped through the Trojans goalkeeper. Just before the ball cross the net, freshman Kimberley Yarnell got it and sent it to the back of the net to secure the 5-0 victory.
Sandpoint (8-3, 3-0) will host Coeur d’Alene 4 p.m. Thursday at Pine Street Field.
“I’m hoping that’s another good game because it feels good to win 5-0 and play well but at the end of the day we want to play teams that are going to push us a little harder,” Baranski said.
First half — 1, Sandpoint, Hannah Eddy (Kiley Webster), 26:00. 2, Sandpoint, Hannah Eddy (Alexa Zavala), 38:00.
Second half — 3, Sandpoint, Jordie Breeden, 69:00. 4, Sandpoint, Emi Lynch (Hannah Eddy), 71:00. 5, Sandpoint, Kimberley Yarnell (Jordie Breeden), 73:00.
Shots on goal — Sandpoint 26, Post Falls 4
Saves — Sandpoint, Hattie Larson, 4, Post Falls, Ashley Grant, 19.