Idaho’s North down, but not yet out

The good news for the north is that both area teams are still alive in the state 5A girls soccer tournament.

The bad news is that neither will play for the state title.

Defending champion Coeur d’Alene ran into a buzz saw Friday on the wind-swept pitch at Post Falls High School, falling 2-0 to Timberline. Sandpoint, after stumbling in the opening round, came back with a vengeance, putting up four goals in the first half and four more in the second in an 8-1 rout of Madison.

Coeur d’Alene (14-6-1) takes on Mountain View (6-13-0) today for third place while Sandpoint squares off with Boise (12-4-3) in the consolation game. Both contests are scheduled for 11 a.m.

In other action, Boise eliminated Highland 2-0 and Eagle advanced to the championship with a 2-0 victory over Mountain View. Eagle (14-1-4) meets Timberline (12-5-2) for the title today at 2.

Sandpoint 8, Madison 1: The wind was a factor all day, but it didn’t seem to faze the Bulldogs (12-6-4), who got two goals each from Brittany Oakley and Bailey Hewitt and a goal and an assist from Brittany Clawson.

Sandpoint coach Adam Tajan said his young team, with just two seniors, wanted to make a statement in its first 5A appearance.

“It’s still a mystery to me how we show up on one day and not on another,” Tajan said. “After (Thursday), coming out so flat, it was almost embarrassing, because we know we’re a better team than that.

“But we came out great (Friday) and we get another chance (today) to size up against a Boise school – hopefully we show up.”

Timberline 2, Coeur d’Alene 0: The Vikings, playing into the wind in the first half, nearly held the Wolves scoreless in the first half, but Carlee Norquist’s unassisted goal on a loose ball in the waning seconds gave Timberline, which outshot CdA 10-7, a lead at the half that it would not lose.

Vikings coach Tarragh Carr credited the Wolves for that tally, but remained a bit miffed about the second, which came on a questionable offsides non-call.

“They’re a good team, and soccer is a game of capitalizing on other people’s mistakes,” Carr said. “Today, they did so on one, and on the second one they did so on the referee.

“Losing is never good, but the girls fought hard, and the girls played hard, and the conditions were hard … it’s a matter of just realizing that some days they go in, and some days they don’t.”