Strong second half propels Bulldogs past Trojans
—Photo by JASON DUCHOW PHOTOGRAPHY Casey Shaha, right, celebrates with her sister Claire Shaha after a goal in the Bulldogs’ win. Claire scored minutes after her sister, the final of three goals in a 10 minute span.
—Photo by ERIC PLUMMER Liz Garza was one of six seniors honored during an early Senior Night game.
SANDPOINT — Post Falls struck early as Rickie Colosimo found the back of the net about 30 seconds into the game, but Sandpoint scored a flurry of goals early in the second half to earn a 3-1 win over the Trojans in nonleague girls soccer Tuesday at Pine St. Field.
The Trojans (1-1-1) controlled the action in the first half, making the lead stand up before Sandpoint (1-1-2) head coach Conor Baranski let his team know he wasn’t happy with the first 40 minutes.
“I was fairly disappointed in the first half and told them they needed to be faster, more aggressive,” said Baranski, whose team went out and headed his advice. “I could not have asked for anything more, team-wide. We were a different team.”
Yeo Yarnell got the Bulldogs on the board first in the 47th minute when a well-timed run resulted in a chip shot goal for the equalizer.
Junior sisters Casey and Claire Shaha each added goals in the next 10 minutes, all assisted by sophomore Kayla Inman, who along with Jezza Hutto created a lot of offensive pressure up the edges.
A couple of diving stops by Trojans’ goalie Maddie Grangaard, who finished with 10 saves, kept the Bulldogs from blowing the game open in a strong second half.
“We just got outhustled in the second half,” Post Falls coach Steve Mills said. “They just wanted it more. They outpassed and outhustled us the entire second half.”
The Bulldogs honored Bella Hauck, Sam Bjorkquist, Liz Garza, Lindsay Guthrie, Taylor Ward and Olivia Moore on a rare early Senior Night, held before school even starts.
The Bulldogs get a week off to rest up and prepare for the first 4A Inland Empire League action of the season next Tuesday at Lakeland.
First half — 1, PF, Rickie Colosimo (unassisted), 1:00. Second half — 2, Spt, Yeo Yarnell (Kayla Inman), 47:00. 3, Spt, Casey Shaha (Inman), 50:00. 4, Spt, Claire Shaha (Inman), 56:00.
Shots on goal — PF 7, Spt 15.
Saves — Spt, Sam Bjorkquist, 1, Shea Kilpatrick, 3; PF, Maddie Grangaard, 10.