Five Bulldogs earn girls' soccer all-league honors

SANDPOINT — Five Sandpoint girls' soccer players received 4A All-Inland Empire League honors for their play this fall.

The league honors were released to the media Monday.

Kimbo Yarnell was awarded Newcomer of the Year and Jordie Breeden, Kelsey Cessna, Piper Frank and Hattie Larson were all named to the all-league team.

In her first full-year on varsity, Yarnell shined. The sophomore scored two goals and assisted on four others. Yarnell got called up to varsity a couple times as a freshman and this year she was a key contributor in the midfield for the Bulldogs.

"Her biggest strength in my opinion is her speed of play," head coach Conor Baranski said. "She just operates at a quicker level."

Baranski said Moscow head coach Joshua Davis had high praise for Yarnell and advocated for her to receive league honors.

"He was a big fan," he said. "It's not every day that your opponents are recognizing that much in our players."

This is the second straight year Cessna has earned league honors. Last year, she received Newcomer of the Year.

The sophomore defender plays with an aggressiveness that is unmatched, Baranski said.

"She's just one of those players that puts her stamp on a game, she's hard to miss," he said. "As I always say, nobody that watches one of our games has any question as to whether Kelsey Cessna wants to win or not. She puts everything into every game."

Cessna has plenty of versatility and has stepped in at goalkeeper several times to make saves on penalty kicks. She tallied two goals and two assists this season.

"She wants to win at absolutely everything and every day she quietly goes about her work and just pushes," Baranski said. "She doesn't have to say anything, to me she's already a leader just because that work rate is contagious."

Frank has a similar relentless mentality. The junior earned all-state honors in 2019 and tallied six goals and six assists this season.

Baranski said Frank is a silent leader on the pitch that always seems to be around the ball.

"I asked a lot of her this year," he said. "She played as a midfielder and as a forward and she brings different dynamics to both ... As a midfielder, she plays really great passes and has great vision, and as a forward she's a great dribbler. I think she improved upon that aspect of her game this year."

Breeden made the all-league team for a second straight year. The senior forward, who made the all-state team as a junior, scored eight goals this fall and assisted on four.

Breeden found the back of the net in a number of different ways. From headers to crosses to free kicks, Breeden did it all and Baranski said she will be tough to replace.

"Jordie is explosive and is a very talented goal scorer," he said. "There's just nobody else in the program right now that's quite as explosive and has the goal scoring ability of Jordie."

Larson earned a spot on the all-league team for a second time, making over 70 saves in net and recording four shutouts. The senior goalkeeper has been arguably one of the best netminders in the state the past two years.

"A player with that level of integrity, that level of selflessness, that level of awareness of how she impacts others is invaluable," Baranski said. "That's the kind of player that literally every coach on the planet wants."

Baranski said Larson raised the level of play of those around.

"For years to come, she is going to be the standard at which we hold our players," he said. "We need more of those players."

ALL-INLAND EMPIRE LEAGUE

First team — Kelsey Cessna, Sandpoint; Araya Wood, Moscow; Jordie Breeden, Sandpoint; Hattie Larson, Sandpoint; Piper Frank, Sandpoint; Hadley West, Lakeland; Reagan White, Lakeland; Serena Strawn, Moscow; Angela Lassen, Moscow; Megan Poler, Moscow; Ava Hicke, Moscow.

Most valuable player — Ava Jakich-Kunze, Moscow.

Newcomer of the year — Kimbo Yarnell, Sandpoint.

Coach of the year — Josh Davis, Moscow.