Sandpoint girls lacrosse start season 1-2

The Sandpoint girls lacrosse team is starting a new chapter on its program.

For example, this year it's competing in the Washington State School Girls Conference.

“We weren’t in a league last year,” Sandpoint girls lacrosse coach Nancy Dooley said. “It’s exciting for us because there’s certain things you have to do in order to sustain a varsity club.”

Last year, the Bulldogs were considered a JV club. The only league in Idaho is in southern Idaho, so Dooley and the Bulldogs were ecstatic to join the WSGC.

Sandpoint started its season with back-to-back conference games against Three Rivers and Richland on Saturday, March 19.

In its first game of the day, the Bulldogs cruised to a 13-0 victory over Three Rivers.

This game was Sandpoint’s first time competing on grass all season, making its victory that much more impressive.

“Not only have we not played on grass, we had no subs coming off of the bench either,” Dooley said. “We dominated that game and had a lot of scoring opportunities.”

Senior Sarah Casey, who is one of the veteran leaders on the Bulldogs lacrosse team, was a real force on the defensive end.

“She had nine saves (against Three Rivers),” Dooley said. “She was cool, calm, and collected for her first time in the goal this year. She was effective with clears and we managed to keep possession of the ball.”

Terra Bode also stood out at the draw for the Bulldogs, according to Dooley.

“The game begins with a draw and we haven’t had a set person,” Dooley said. “Bode stood out and was able to win possession of the draw and earned the starting role.”

In its second game of the day, Sandpoint took on Richland-Hanford.

The Bulldogs fell 10-9.

“We had some improvement on our shooting and had a lot of shots on goal,” Dooley said. “It should’ve been a bit more lopsided on our side but consistency will come eventually.”

Richland’s goalkeeper managed to limit Sandpoint’s scoring opportunities.

“Their goalie had a phenomenal game that kept them in it for so long,” Dooley said. “We’re also a little rusty at containing girls coming around the crease. That’ll improve.”

Dooley was happy to see the amount of grind and heart that Sandpoint had in its game against Richland-Hanford.

“Everyone played with a ton of heart and composure,” Dooley said. “They had to dig deep and when we play them again, we’ll have two more players who couldn’t play in this game.”

On Saturday, March 26, the Bulldogs faced off against the Spokane Stealth in their third game of the season.

The stealth took down the Bulldogs 15-8.

“I was really impressed with their performance,” Sandpoint girls lacrosse assistant coach Bill Aitken said. “ (Spokane) is the toughest team around and they’ve played together for a long, long time.”

The Bulldogs were down 13-4 at halftime but managed to outscore the Stealth 4-2 in the second half.

“The girls made a lot of the adjustments,” Atiken said. “They knew what was going on and they talked to one another and figured out what was happening and how they were getting free.”

Casey had another solid day in the net by registering 12 saves.

Despite the loss, Sandpoint remains optimistic about the direction of the club.

“They know their good and their skill level has grown so much,” Atiken said. “It’s been fun to coach them and talk to them about different strategies. During the building years all we did was throw and catch during practice, now their skills are coming along and they're working together.”