Meaux’s three goals power Sandpoint

BOISE – Soccer is a game that requires a lot of footwork.

Thursday afternoon at the Capital Soccer Complex, Sandpoint’s Kyle Meaux tried a different approach – using his head.

Meaux scored two first-half goals on tough headers in traffic and added a third to complete a first-half hat trick, leading the Sandpoint Bulldogs to a 4-1 victory over Pocatello in the first round of the boys 4A state soccer tournament.

Alex Crossingham assisted on two of Meaux’s goals and Sebastian Imlay added a late insurance tally as Sandpoint jumped out to a 3-0 halftime lead and coasted to victory with many of its starters on the bench.

“We played well today,” Sandpoint coach Randy Thoreson said. “I thought we did a good job of moving the ball and we were able to finish our chances early and save some legs for later in the tournament.”

Meaux was everywhere in the first half, scoring three goals and creating several other chances before Thoreson took him out of the game just before halftime.

After Pocatello goalkeeper Blair Cole denied several early chances, Meaux broke through with a nifty header. Meaux and teammate Drake Hanson hit the ball into the air several times with their heads before Meaux rose above the crowd and bounced a shot over Cole’s head for a 1-0 lead.

Moments later, Crossingham sailed a nifty cross to Meaux in front of the net, and Meaux slammed the ball past Cole with another header to give Sandpoint a 2-0 lead.

With time winding down in the first half, Meaux struck again, converting a textbook goalmouth cross pass from Crossingham.

“Our objective was to get some early goals, and we were able to do that,” Meaux said. “That allowed us to rest some guys for (today).”

Cole finished with eight saves for the Indians, but the Pocatello offense was nowhere to be found. Sandpoint kept the Indians at bay until the closing minutes, when Byron Eckert converted a penalty kick to thwart the shutout attempt.

Sandpoint (9-9-2) plays Burley (19-0) in the 4A semifinals at 11:15 p.m. today (PDT). The Bobcats blanked Nampa 3-0 in their quarterfinal match.

Skyview and Bonneville will play in the other semifinal.

Thoreson expects a tougher match against Burley today.

“They are a great team,” Thoreson said. “There’s a reason they are undefeated. We know we’re in for a battle.”