Sandpoint girls fall to Pocatello

POST FALLS — The Sandpoint Bulldogs fell short in the third-place game against Pocatello on Saturday afternoon at the state 4A girls soccer tournament at The Fields at Real Life.

Tied 1-1 after overtime, the Bulldog girls came up just shy of third place when they lost 4-3 in penalty kicks.

Sandpoint coach Conor Baranski had mixed feelings about the game and how the season ended following that final whistle.

“There are so many subplots,” he said. “Some players overcome this, some players succumb to their emotions and not actually perform. People that do certain things for the team that are pretty selfless, other players that get all the attention, but crumble in the big moments.”

Junior Aliya Strock scored Sandpoint’s lone goal at the 45th minute, assisted by freshman Mackenzie Mitchell.

When the game made it to penalty kicks, something that the Bulldog girls have practiced a little bit this year, Sandpoint’s first two went wide of the goal. Goaltender Lilliana Brinkmeier nearly had three of the shots against her, but just couldn’t quite get enough of a hand on them.

After the first game of the tournament on Thursday, when he had an opportunity to see the rest of the competition, Baranski said he was disappointed that his team came home without a trophy.

“I know that if our team had come and played to the ability that they can, we would be competing for a state championship,” he said.

Overall though, Baranski remains an advocate for youth sports because situations of disappointment and frustration, such as this one, are inevitable and he believes that it is really important for young people to experience them.

“I hope my players respond appropriately and work harder to be better next time,” he said.