Late goal by Lake City hands Sandpoint second defeat

COEUR d'ALENE — In a match that could have gone either way, the Sandpoint boys soccer team fell just short.

In the 78th minute of Thursday's game at Lake City, the Timberwolves scored to grab a 2-1 league victory over the Bulldogs.

"It's tough to get scored on in the last minute of the game when you've done everything right," head coach Tanner French said.

Last Friday, Sandpoint lost 4-1 at Lake City in its season opener.

French said he saw a lot of positives Thursday, but he felt his team only played half of the game and checked out the first 35 minutes and the final five.

"It's the third game of the season, I don't expect them to put together a full 80 minute match, but I do expect them to begin to understand how the game develops after the first whistle," he said.

The Timberwolves struck first in the 13th minute and held onto the advantage until the 58th minute when senior Chris Koch buried his second goal of the season.

Lake City's Miles Jones scored the game winner.

"We get Lake City the last game of the year at night at Memorial and I know [the boys] are already looking forward to it," French said.

The Bulldogs were fresh off a thrilling 6-4 win over Post Falls on Tuesday and French said he was impressed with how the boys responded after that hard-fought match.

Sandpoint (1-2, 1-1 IEL) will get nearly a week off before heading to Coeur d'Alene next Thursday.

French said the time off is one of the benefits of the coronavirus because now the Bulldogs can train and recover.

"I'm looking forward to having the weekend," French said, "and the boys can come in mentally focused and ready to improve because this team has a massive amount of potential and they need to understand that it's not going to happen in the first month."

First half — 1, LC, Bryce Allred (unassisted), 13:00. Second half — 2, Spt, Chris Koch (unassisted), 58:00. 3, LC, Miles Jones (unassisted), 78:00.

Shots on goal — Spt 6, LC 10.

Saves — Spt, Roman Jiles 8; LC, Tyler Allred 5.