POST FALLS — Post Falls High boys soccer coach Gabe Lawson said that his younger squad wasn’t used to playing in games with a lot of pressure on them.

They’ll get a chance to get used to that in the next two weeks.

Noah Gondo had five saves and the second seed and host Trojans scored two first-half goals to beat the third-seeded Coeur d’Alene Vikings 2-1 in a 5A Region 1 semifinal match on Tuesday. The win clinched a berth for Post Falls to the state 5A tournament starting next Thursday at either Rocky Mountain High in Meridian or Eagle High.

“This was just how we didn’t plan it,” Lawson said. “These guys are a young team and not used to being in games like this with pressure.”

Coeur d’Alene (7-3-4) had a chance to tie the match in the 78th minute on a shot by Matt Hulquist. Gondo dove to his right for the save right in front of the net, but the ball bounded off his hands to his right. Gunnar Skindlov of Coeur d’Alene charged in and took a low, skidding shot from perhaps five feet away. midfielder Hunter Grebe, standing near the goal line, deflected the shot away, toward the corner, with a kick save with his right foot.

“I just barely saw the ball and reached out and grabbed it,” Gondo said. “Hunter was right there, I don’t really know what to say. I can’t believe he was there and made a play. He came out of nowhere. I thought the ball was going in.”

“Noah was flat amazing today,” Lawson said. “He’s been solid like that all year and I was glad he was able to showcase that in such a big match like this one today.”

Post Falls (9-5-1) travels to Lake City (9-1-4) in the regional championship game on Saturday at noon, with the winner being the top seed to state and the loser the second seed.

Roberto Esquivel scored on a goal from 25 yards out and Timmy Mueller scored on a penalty kick — his 99th career goal — for the Trojans in the first 22 minutes.

Coeur d’Alene senior Braden Ridgewell scored in the 36th minute to cut the deficit to 2-1.

“We got up two goals and instead of taking the game to Coeur d’Alene like we had been doing, they decided to hold them with a little defense,” Lawson said. “And that goes against everything that we teach. That’s the lack of experience. But the fact that we got that experience in this game, we will know how to treat the next one.”

All three of Coeur d’Alene’s losses this season were to to Post Falls — by a goal in each game.

“We’re completely gutted,” Coeur d’Alene coach Jeff Lake said. “We’re devastated. We had 1,000 opportunities and we didn’t finish them. Hats off to Post Falls for finishing their chances, but we had so many opportunities and it’s a tough pill to swallow. They beat us all three times this year, so give it up to them.”

First half — 1, PF, Roberto Esquivel (unassisted), 4:00. 2, PF, Timmy Mueller (penalty kick), 22:00. 3, Cd’A, Braden Ridgewell (unassisted), 36:00. Second half — none.

Shots on goal — Cd’A 11, PF 6.

Saves — Cd’A, Garrett Boyce 4; PF, Noah Gondo 5.