Bulldogs benefit from tie

Even though it has yet to be decided which 5A Inland Empire League girls soccer team is the best, Sandpoint captured the league championship Thursday.

The visiting Bulldogs needed no worse than a tie to wrangle the league title and top seeding to the Region I tournament from Coeur d’Alene, and Sandpoint got a second-half equalizer from standout Bailey Hewitt to forge a 1-1 tie.

Sandpoint (11-3-3, 8-0-2 IEL) will play a first-round regional match Tuesday. The Bulldogs will await the winner of a loser-out tourney opener Saturday that pits No. 5 seed Lewiston at No. 4 Post Falls.

Coeur d’Alene (9-4-4, 6-0-4) will play host to No. 3 Lake City (5-4-6, 3-2-5) on Tuesday.

The margin of error was less for Sandpoint than it was for CdA.

“Coming in we knew a draw or the win would clinch it for us,” Sandpoint coach Adam Tajan said. “You worry about that a little bit – what their mentality will be like going into the game. But it is nice to have that cushion where we only need to draw and that’ll be enough.”

For a half, though, the Vikings were well in control of the match.

CdA took a 1-0 lead when forward Sadie Simon netted her 20th goal of the season. Midfielder Hayley Smith chipped a ball toward Sandpoint’s goal that keeper Kelsey Windju hesitated to go out and corral. When Windju finally came out of the crease, it was too late and the ball bounced over her head to an awaiting Simon, who lifted the ball into the open net in the 33rd minute.

With 18 minutes remaining, Hewitt slipped behind CdA’s defense and gathered the ball momentarily about 10 yards from the goal. As she started to dribble, she was tripped from behind by defender Rachel Crawford.

Sandpoint was awarded a penalty kick and Hewitt drilled the ball off goalie Christine Woeller’s hand. Woeller did a good job anticipating which side Hewitt was going to attack.

CdA coach Tarragh Carr praised her team’s effort. But she was disappointed with the officiating. She felt the center referee blew his whistle too often.

“I am beyond proud,” Carr said. “They played hard all the way to the end. I hate to blame it on the referees, but I saw the momentum being killed every time (the referee) put his whistle to his mouth. It’s not about the guy in the center. It’s about the girls on the field. He took that away from them and that hurts.”

Hewitt knew the Bulldogs would break through in the second half.

“They have a strong defense, but we have a strong offense and it was a good battle,” Hewitt said. “We were bound to get through. We had several opportunities and we were lucky enough to put one away.”

Last year, the Vikings captured the league title but lost to Sandpoint in the regional final. The Vikings hope to have an opportunity to redeem themselves and return the favor with Sandpoint next week.

First they must face off against their rival. In their league matches, the teams played to scoreless ties.