Sandpoint punches ticket to district championship with thrilling 4-3 comeback victory over Lakeland

SANDPOINT — The intensity of a game in any sport goes up when postseason play rolls around, but Tuesday’s 4A Region 1 semifinal game between Lakeland and Sandpoint boys soccer was something else. Coaches screaming, players and fans arguing and physical tackles and challenges were nonstop, making the match one both teams will remember for a long time.

After falling behind 2-0 early in the first half, the Bulldogs clawed their way back and with about three minutes left in the game the score was tied at 3-3.

Both teams were looking around for a hero. Someone to make a play and score the game winning goal. Luckily, that hero was Sandpoint’s Braeden Dressel.

In the 77th minute, the senior midfielder got the ball just outside the penalty ball and blasted a shot to the upper left corner of the net to make it 4-3. The Sandpoint fans went berserk and the players on the Bulldogs bench could barely be held back from running on the field.

Dressel’s goal completed the comeback for Sandpoint and sent the Bulldogs to the district championship match against Moscow on Thursday.

“My buddy Chris [Koch], he had the ball,” Dressel said while describing his game winning score, “and started dribbling left and I took it over from him without even asking and I kind of felt bad but then I saw the shot, just one-time ripper ... and then I didn’t feel too bad anymore about that.”

Sandpoint head coach Tanner French was proud of his team’s ability to fight adversity.

“There hasn’t been too many games where we’ve needed to respond,” French said. “There’s been games where we’ve had the possibility or the want too but today was a need and I think a couple players stepped up who particularly haven’t gotten major minutes this season and I put them in a situation where they shined and it showed.”

The Bulldogs beat the Hawks by a combined score of 4-0 in their two games during the regular season, but Lakeland played with desperation and looked like a team that had something to prove.

“Lakeland battled,” French said, “and I’m happy for them because after talking to their coach it sounded like they possibly weren’t even going to have a program this year.”

The Hawks have played with a defense first mindset all season and that strategy continued in Tuesday’s match as Sandpoint dominated possession early in the game. At times, Lakeland had all 11 players in the box to defend set pieces by the Bulldogs.

Despite hardly ever having the ball, the Hawks struck first in the 18th minute when Bradley Munson picked up the ball on a rebound inside the penalty area and sent a shot past Sandpoint freshman goalkeeper Roman Jiles.

Five minutes later, Lakeland would find the back of the net again after Jiles touched the ball with his hands outside the penalty box. This setup the Hawks with an indirect free kick from about 20 yards out and Lakeland’s Pete Intarapornudom fired the kick off the left post and it bounced off Jiles face into the goal.

The refs got together and discussed the play for about three minutes after it happen to decide whether it was a goal or not. They ultimately ruled it a goal because by rule, an indirect free kick can only result in a score if it makes contact with another player before crossing the line and in this case it did.

French said the refs explained the situation to him and he told them he was fine with it because he hoped the scoreline would motivate his players.

“ ‘I said I don’t care just make it 2-0, I want to see how my team responds,’ and they did,” he said.

Dressel said during the break the team had when the refs were discussing the goal, the team’s attitude shifted.

“It definitely lit a fire under us,” Dressel said. “We were definitely frustrated, we wanted to take it to them. They thought they had the game under control and we knew they didn’t, we just knew we needed to get our heads in the game.”

Three minutes later, junior forward Zander Moore picked the perfect time to score his first goal of the season when sophomore midfielder Evan Darling sent a pass across the goal and Moore buried it.

The momentum had shifted and Sandpoint could feel it. They kept attacking and in the 38th minute, Moore scored his second goal of the game to tie the game at 2-2 heading into halftime.

The Bulldogs continued to dominate possession in the second half, but once again the Hawks took advantage of one of their few chances to score and capitalized. In the 46th minute, the Hawks got a free kick and sent the ball on net and Jiles knocked it down but the ball bounced to Lakeland’s Jared Sherman who buried it to give the Hawks a 3-2 lead.

The tension built after that score and the pressure was on the Bulldogs to find an equalizer and keep their season alive.

In the 69th minute, Sandpoint did just that when senior midfielder Sims Macdonald drew a penalty in the box. On the penalty kick, Macdonald stepped up and calmly struck the ball toward the bottom left corner of the net and past a diving Lakeland goalkeeper to tie it at 3-3.

Eight minutes later, Dressel scored and every in attendance finally was able to breath as the Bulldogs secured the victory.

“I’m happy with the result, I’m not happy with the play,” French said. “I was hoping to rest some legs but that wasn’t the case.”

Dressel said the Bulldogs took their opponent lightly.

“We definitely came in here expecting that we were going to beat them by a lot and when we got those two goals scored on us we really kind of got our heads down,” he said.

Now the Bulldogs (7-7-1) will head to Moscow to face the Bears in the 4A Region Championship 3:30 p.m. Thursday.

Sandpoint lost 3-0 to Moscow on Saturday, but beat them 2-0 at Pine Street Field on Sept. 17.

The winner of Thursday’s match will earn a trip to state while the loser will have their season come to an end.

French said his team is ready for the challenge.

“Although its an expectation to go to state,” he said, “this year its a goal and I just want the boys to get there for themselves.

“If you lose to a better team and you give it your all, that’s all you can ask of them but I don’t think that will be the case.”

First half — 1, Lakeland, Bradley Munson (Isaac Fritts), 18:00. 2, Lakeland, Pete Intarapornudom, 23:00. 1, Sandpoint, Zander Moore (Evan Darling), 26:00. 2, Sandpoint, Zander Moore (Sims Macdonald), 38:00.

Second half — 3, Lakeland, Jared Sherman, 46:00. 3, Sandpoint, Sims Macdonald (penalty kick), 69:00. 4, Sandpoint, Braeden Dressel (Chris Koch), 77:00.

Shots on goal — Sandpoint 21, Lakeland 7

Saves — Sandpoint, Roman Jiles 5, Lakeland, Diego Escobar, 13.