Girls soccer believes a repeat could be within reach

SANDPOINT — Prior to last season, two words haunted the Sandpoint girls soccer program — Bishop Kelly.

That all changed in 2019 when the Bulldogs were able to overcome three straight title game losses to Bishop Kelly and defeat Kuna 2-0 to claim the 4A state crown. It was Sandpoint’s first state title since 2014 and eighth overall, tying them with, you guessed it, Bishop Kelly.

Senior forward Jordie Breeden has been on varsity since she was a freshman and she said getting past that mental hurdle and taking down the Knights in the semifinals felt really good.

“Finally being able to beat them, it was like the best thing ever,” she said. “It was better than winning state, in my opinion.”

Senior goalkeeper Hattie Larson still thinks about what it was like to raise the state trophy above her head.

“It still feels like a dream to me and crazy that it’s already been a year,” she said.

But being state champs presents a whole new challenge. Now the Bulldogs go from the hunters, to the hunted. It’s a tough task and veteran head coach Conor Baranski has dealt with this conundrum before and he thinks it’s a good problem to have.

“For me, it motivates me more,” he said. “It motivates me to go have as good of a season and I think we are very much capable of challenging for another state title.”

And Baranski should feel confident because he has plenty of talent coming back. Sandpoint lost six seniors, including four starters, from last year’s 14-3 squad.

One loss Baranski didn’t anticipate having was Emma Thielbahr. The junior defender is attending the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida. Baranski is happy for Thielbahr but now he has to find some way to replace one of the most gifted athletes to walk through the program in recent years.

“That’s a massive loss,” he said.

Thielbahr was named the IEL Newcomer of the Year as a freshman and earned all-league and all-state honors last season. She was a cornerstone piece on the Bulldogs back-line and a player Baranski was eager to watch excel this season.

Senior Kendall Rubright played alongside Thielbahr at center back last season and she is sad the junior is gone because they are best friends.

“I cried for like a week because me and her were like a brick in the back,” Rubright said. “Without Emma, I’m still bricks but I can be broken.”

Fortunately, Baranski has plenty of faith in his returning defenders — Kate McGregor, Kelsey Cessna and Kylie Burnett — to fill the void left by Thielbahr’s absence.

Rubright, Breeden, Hattie and Aspen Larson are the only seniors on this year’s team and they will be key to the Bulldogs success.

This summer, Baranski handed over the team to his seniors. He does it every year to help his seniors define their leadership roles on the team, but this group did it under some very challenging circumstances.

Breeden said it was difficult to schedule anything with the uncertainty of the pandemic, but they made it work. Hattie said they held open plays twice a week while trying to work around everyone’s schedule as best as possible.

“It’s voluntary, but it was very focused because we wanted to get better,” she said.

Breeden said the open play sessions consisted mostly of scrimmages at first and then focused more on drills like ball control as the summer went on.

“It was different because everyone is used to just being able to play and be normal,” she said.

Breeden embraced her leadership role during the offseason and enjoyed the responsibility it gave her.

“Now it’s my turn to give back to the freshman, sophomore and junior class,” she said. “I’ve always looked up to the seniors and knowing I’m that role model, I feel like it’s empowering and I like it a lot.”

Despite being named all-league and all-state last season, Breeden struggled staying healthy. She battled a torn hamstring early in the season and suffered a concussion in her first game back on the pitch. She was effective though when she did see the field for the Bulldogs in 2019 and Baranski is expecting her to lead Sandpoint’s attack and tally 10 goals or more.

Breeden wants to be the player every team is trying to stop and she is hoping to lead the team in assists and goals en route to another all-league season.

“I just want to go at people and score a lot,” she said.

Some players on the team, including Aspen, opted not to participate in the open plays this summer to avoid exposure with others. Aspen said she worked on individual skill work and went out to Pine Street Field on her own when she could.

Aspen is hoping to improve her fitness this season and be a consistent starter for the Bulldogs at outside wing and Baranski believes her speed could result in several goals this fall.

Aspen has been looking forward to the middle of August since last season ended and she can’t wait to leave her mark this year.

“I’m really nervous but I’m super excited at the same time,” she said. “The adrenaline from having our first game and it being at home is really exciting.”

Given the limited time Baranski spent around the girls this summer, he is expecting it will take longer than normal for his starters to become solidified.

“Usually I obsess over [the starters] most months of the year,” he said, “and this summer, I’ve tried to obsess less purely because of the not knowing. I didn’t think we were going to have a season to be honest.”

The rock for Sandpoint this season will be Hattie in net. She is arguably the best goalkeeper in the state and Baranski said Hattie is the perfect captain due to her selflessness.

Hattie balanced three sports this summer — soccer, basketball and golf — and had no problem staying motivated because she knew that even if she didn’t have a fall season, she would still be preparing for the next chapter of her life at Eastern Washington University.

Baranski doesn’t really have any expectations for Hattie this fall. Although, he would “love it if she was literally directing the entire field from the box.”

“She’s one of those people that doesn’t need anybody to have expectations for her because hers are so high for herself already,” he said. “She will do the right thing for the program.”

Baranski said having a goalie he can trust allows the Bulldogs to be more aggressive and put more pressure on opposing teams.

“It makes the game a lot easier as a defender to know that your goalkeeper knows what she’s doing,” he said about Hattie.

Hattie said she has moved on from last season’s state championship run and is focused on staying in the moment and taking it one game at a time this year. All the seniors agreed that the Bulldogs feel confident in their ability to beat anybody and the team is prepared to face every opponents’ best effort this season as the defending state champs.

“New team, new year,” Rubright said. “We’re not guaranteed to win state this year and we have to defend our victory.”

Rubright is expected to make the transition from center back to holding midfielder this season. Rubright said making the switch won’t be easy, but she feels ready to leave her “state champ position.”

Baranski said the position plays to Rubright’s strengths.

“She’s a very good dribbler,” he said, “but she has some attack mindedness to her, so that will give her a little more freedom to go forward.”

Rubright said she is really self-motivated this fall because she didn’t get a club season and wants to show college recruiters what she is capable of.

Baranski has told the girls to cherish the time they get on the pitch this fall and they have certainly taken that message to heart.

“For us, it’s one and done,” Rubright said. “If one person is irresponsible with what they’re doing and they’re not safe with the coronavirus then it’s over.”

“I’m just thankful that they are allowing us to play,” Breeden said.

Sandpoint begins its title defense 4 p.m. today against Lake City at War Memorial Field.