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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Chad Berkley Sandpoint Year: Senior Sport: Soccer Position: Goalie

Sandpoint High School soccer coach Ed Bock dusted off the game ball before last Saturday’s North Idaho League match with Lake City. It was last used four years ago when the Bulldogs capped a 16-0 season.

Bock retired the ball again following Sandpoint’s 1-0 shutout of LC. It was the Bulldogs’ first win over a Coeur d’Alene team in four years.

“We went crazy,” Sandpoint’s Chad Berkley said of the post-game celebration. “We kind of had a mosh pit in the middle of the field. We were all rolling around and screaming. We were all kissing that ball and everybody was holding onto it.”

Berkley, a goalkeeper since third grade, made 10 saves against the Timberwolves.

“My favorite save was with about 5 minutes left,” Berkley said. “They had a nice cross that came across from the left side. The ball was an inch away from (an LC player’s forehead) and would be a driven ball. I grabbed it and lifted it above his head. He landed on the ground and said some expletives. I said, ‘Better luck next time.”’

Earlier in the season, LC beat Sandpoint 1-0. Each now has a share of the league lead at 8-1, with one remaining league match.

“That was the best team effort I’ve seen from our team in so long,” Berkley said.

The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Berkley is in his third year as the Bulldogs’ starting goalie.

“He’s kind of our Mr. Bulldog in terms of directing things out of the back,” Bock said. “He’s had some spectacular saves because of his size. In the air he’s been tremendous… . Sometimes, he makes things look real simple.”

“The goalie position sometimes is kind of intimidating, especially in the upper levels,” Berkley explained. “Diving on a ball going 80 or 90 mph isn’t what a lot of people want to do, or falling on people. I don’t really know what makes you want to be a keeper.”

Not running the field might have been an influential factor.

“I’ve noticed ever since I was a little kid that I couldn’t get into as good of shape as everybody else,” Berkley said.

Last summer, Berkley found out why - a heart murmur.

“The doctor said no running over a mile, no hard sprinting, no wrestling,” Berkley said. “I’m not supposed to get hit in the chest a lot.”

When it comes to tending goal, though, few people have as big a heart as Berkley.