Bulldogs set sights on first state title since 2014

Sandpoint girls soccer’s last three years at the 4A state tournament are eerily similar to a broken record.

Three times in a row, the Bulldogs have fallen to Bishop Kelly in the state final by a combined four goals.

It’s a mental hurdle unlike any other. One that undoubtedly affects the team all the time especially the five seniors who’ve had their last three seasons end with devastating losses to the Knights.

But the Bulldogs (11-3) are more than equipped to rewrite history this season and put that streak to bed and that journey starts Thursday at Brothers Park in Caldwell when they play Pocatello (12-2-3) in the state quarterfinals.

Junior goalkeeper Hattie Larson has been with the team for the last two title fights with the Knights and admitted Sandpoint doesn’t shy away from discussing the past.

“I know that not everyone on the team is as experienced with Bishop Kelly in state but I know they want it just as much from us just talking about it,” she said. “Ever since tryouts at the beginning of the season, we kind of talk about it like all the time. We bring it up because its always going through our minds.”

Larson believes the Bulldogs benefit from bringing up what has happened previously because it helps provide motivation. But she admitted that occasionally it can have the opposite effect.

“At some point it becomes on the edge of good and bad,” she said, “because at the same time all the girls coming in have knowledge of state and Sandpoint soccer so we just build a bigger rep for Bishop Kelly as we keep talking about it. We put them up on a pedestal like they’re this goddess team that can never be beat, ‘oh my gosh they’re so intimidating,’ but its really not we just do that to ourselves and it comes a little bit with talking about it so much because that idea kind of just gets implanted.”

Senior midfielder Kiley Webster is getting tired of losing to Bishop Kelly and wants to beat them “so badly.”

“I think we can do it and I think we could’ve done it the last three years too but I know we can do it this year,” she said.

The way the state bracket unfolded this year means the Bulldogs will not face the Knights in the title game for the fourth consecutive season. Instead, if Sandpoint and Bishop Kelly both win their opening matches, they will battle each other in the semifinals.

Senior forward Emi Lynch said having the opportunity to knock off the Knights earlier in the tournament could help the Bulldogs’ mentality.

“I think that’s really fortunate on our part in some ways if we beat them and its in the semifinals,” she said. “It wouldn’t be as satisfying but in other ways I think maybe the reason we’ve lost three years in a row is just the whole deja vu.

“So maybe with a change of element that will help us take that edge off and we won’t think of them as this huge pedestal team.”

But before the Bulldogs can have a crack at beating their rival, they have to get through Pocatello, who finished second in their league behind Twin Falls.

Head coach Conor Baranski admitted he isn’t sure what challenges Pocatello will present his team because he doesn’t know much about them. He said he did some online research this past weekend by watching highlights and sifting through newspaper articles, but there is only so much he was able to learn about Pocatello.

Regardless, Baranski is confident the Bulldogs will come away with a victory Thursday.

“I don’t think its arrogant to say we should win that game,” he said. “They haven’t been to state since 2007, so I’m assuming their nerves and mentality will be a little up there whereas this is routine for our players hopefully.”

Baranski is aware that a potential matchup with Bishop Kelly looms but he wants his team to take it one game at a time and focus solely on the opponent they are facing next.

A big reason why Baranski and the Bulldogs are so unfamiliar with Pocatello and a majority of the teams at the tournament is they don’t play them in the regular season. Instead, Sandpoint competes against a handful of 5A schools in the Coeur d’Alene area and 4A teams from the Greater Spokane League.

Baranski believes this is an advantage for his team because they won’t shy away from any opponent due to the level of competition they’ve battled all season.

“I say for most of the teams we play that will not be the best team that we’ve seen,” he said. “Bishop Kelly might be one of the better teams, but every other team down there is not better than Lake City ... that’s why we have that tough schedule, so I can say in all truthfulness to them you’ve seen better than this.

“I hope that we’ve built a winning enough culture that when we go down there we’re expecting to win, that we’re not just happy to be there.”

Lynch, Webster and Larson all said that going to state has a deeper meaning for them and the team. Its an experience that brings the girls on the team together and creates a bonding opportunity that is unmatched by anything else.

Lynch said she’ll enjoy the bus ride to and from the tournament, the snack bags they get, the team dinners every night and getting to room with one of her teammates in the hotel.

Webster and Lynch said it would be satisfying to go out on top as seniors with a state title.

“For me its not so much about the winning,” Lynch said, “but I feel like I’m ready to play soccer for the last time.

“Everyone’s there to have fun because they love soccer so I think if everyone keeps that mindset that will just naturally shift things.”

The last time Sandpoint won a state title was 2014 and win or lose, Baranski is looking forward to watching his team leave it all on the field.

“I always tell [the team] this is my favorite time of year. I absolutely love this; they are absolutely wonderful every single year. The only time in my coaching career with this program that I’m disappointed is when they don’t play to their full potential and the last three years in the state championship that was definitely not the case. Very infrequently am I disappointed in their effort so ... I think they’ll respond appropriately mentally and we’ll be proud no matter what the result is.”

Kickoff for Thursday’s game is set for 2 p.m.