Bulldogs 'on a mission' in championship game

Punch ticket to state for the first time in three years

MOSCOW — The Bulldog boys did two things on Wednesday at the 4A Region 1 boys soccer championship game in Moscow: One, they exorcised three years worth of demons, and two, punched a highly-coveted ticket to state in the process.

Displaying great energy and effort, the No. 2 seed Bulldogs scored early in both halves and cruised to a 4-2 win over No. 1 Moscow, giving a senior class their first trip to the state tournament.

“Huge win for us to get over that district hurdle. This group has never been,” said Bulldogs coach Adam Tajan, whose teams’ seasons have come to rough ends at districts for the past three years. “Everybody as a whole was on a mission to redeem the last two district games against Moscow and take care of business.”

Christian Dressel got things started right away, finishing a pass from Dawson Mulder to get a pressure-relieving 1-0 lead just two minutes into the game. Mulder, who would score later in the game, has been a very unselfish player all season while still managing to score 22 goals.

Perhaps the biggest goal of the game came in the 48th minute, when Jack Rinck scored his sixth goal of the season, what they call in sports parlance an insurance goal and a 2-0 lead.

“Jack’s was the most important goal of the game, gave us that buffer,” claimed Tajan. “We needed that second goal to take the wind out of their sails.”

After Mulder’s goal Moscow closed things to 3-1, before Mac Stultz beat three defenders and rifled a shot past the Moscow keeper for a 4-1 lead. Moscow scored a meaningless goal in the 80th minute to cap the scoring.

With the Bulldogs (11-3-4) missing normal starters Dylan Baillie and Ben Schwartz with injuries, Tajan praised the defense of Max Edmundson as a center back, and Charlie Crane, who moved back from his normal midfield position to help shore up the back four.

The past three years were tough to take for a program used to competing for state titles, and a hungry group of seniors set the tone from the first whistle.

“We played really well. Came out at the start of both halves on fire, excited, energized and it showed in the stat book,” said Tajan. “Those guys were organized in the back, intense.”

Sandpoint will open the state tournament against either Blackfoot or Century on Oct. 20 in Idaho Falls.

First half — 1, Spt, Christian Dressel (Dawson Mulder), 2:00. Second half — 2, Spt, Jack Rinck (unassisted), 48:00. 3, Spt, Dawson Mulder (Charlie Crane), 50:00. 4, Moscow, 63:00. 5, Spt, Mac Stultz (unassisted), 66:00. 6, Moscow, 80:00.

Shots on goal — Spt 10, Mos 3.

Saves — Mos, 7; Spt, Mitch Rust, 3.