PREP SOCCER: McCrum sinks last-minute goal to give Sandpoint girls 9th state title

Sandpoint 2, Bishop Kelly 1

MIDDLETON – During the 79th minute, Sandpoint’s Marlee McCrum faked left, turned the ball right, created some space and scored to help No. 4 Sandpoint capture the 4A state title, 2-1 over No. 2 Bishop Kelly on Saturday at Middleton High School. It was Sandpoint’s first win over Bishop Kelly since 2019.

“As soon as I scored that goal, I was left in shock knowing that the state title was in our grasp,” McCrum said.

Thanks to the late goal from McCrum, and the assist from Hannah Harvey, the Bulldogs now have a total of nine girls soccer state titles under their belt. However, it wouldn’t have been possible without the first goal of the game, which came from Aliya Strock.

During the 33rd minute, there was a scramble in front of the net and somehow Strock was able to get her foot on the ball and send it inside the left post to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 advantage. Sandpoint was able to maintain that lead until late in the second half.

During the 70th minute, Bishop Kelly’s Sophie Schmautz scored on a cross from Kate Jaques to tie the game 1-1. Nine minutes later, McCrum scored the go-ahead goal to put Sandpoint in front, but that didn’t come without a last-minute scare.

During the 80th minute, a Bishop Kelly attacker made her way past four Sandpoint defenders. It was a one-and-one between the attacker and goalkeeper Lilliana Brinkmeier. Brinkmeier dove right and made a tremendous save, keeping the Knights from sending the game into overtime. The ball eventually made its way back out to midfield, and the Bulldogs breathed a sigh of relief as the clock ticked down, realizing they were about to be state champions.

“This team came together as a unified group for this whole post-season,” head coach Conor Baranski said. “We talk a lot about (putting the) team before self as one of our core values, and this teams’ success is 100% down to their willingness to set aside ego and play for their teammates. They just beat the No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in the state on back-to-back days, and they did it through grit, determination, and perseverance. We had players playing through injuries, playing through exhaustion, playing every minute of every game. We also had an entire group of players that absolutely contributed to our success by cheering from the sideline. To beat Bishop Kelly, and to draw even with them on total state titles is huge. They have multiple players going to play in college, and our team handled them in a way that I'm guessing Bishop Kelly hadn't seen before. These players will remember this for the rest of their lives. They deserve all the praise they're going to get in the coming days. I'm so proud of them and feel honored to have coached them.”

The Bulldogs finished their season with an 11-5-3 record and captured their first state title since 2019.

1st half – 1, SPT, Aliya Strock (unassisted), 33’. 2nd half – 2, BK, Sophie Schmautz (Kate Jaques), 70’. 3, SPT, Marlee McCrum (Hannah Harvey), 79’.

Shots on goal – Sandpoint 15. Bishop Kelly 13.

Saves – Sandpoint, Lilliana Brinkmeier, 14. Bishop Kelly, Brooke Hutchinson, 13.