BOISE - The Coeur d'Alene Sting Under-18 girls soccer coach Dan Hogan found himself at a loss for words following the conclusion of pool play in the Far West Regional tournament on Wednesday at the Simplot Soccer Complex.

His team - made up of players from around North Idaho - can be to blame.

Caitlin Barber scored the equalizer in the 65th minute on an assist from Aitana Vernon for the Sting Under-18 soccer team, which played to a 1-1 draw with Santa Clara Sporting '96 on Wednesday at the Simplot Soccer Complex, advancing to the quarterfinal round on Friday.

"I'm speechless," Hogan said. "A team from North Idaho where including Sandpoint, Rathdrum, Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene has less than 70,000 in population. It's exciting and I'm so proud of these girls and how well they're playing together."

With the draw, the Sting (2-0-1, 7 points) advanced to the quarterfinals by winning their pool and will face La Roca FC from Layton, Utah. It is the first time in club history a team has won its group at regionals.

"Sporting started the game very strong knowing they needed to win by three goals to overtake us in the group standings," Hogan said. "They scored when (Tiegan) Horton paired a cross away from in front of the goal, but the deflection went right to a Sporting forward who volleyed the ball into the net. The second half went more our way as our players wanted at least a tie so we would win our group."

The Sting didn't wait long into the second half to counter the goal.

"Vernon overlapped Meaghan Bare on the left wing and then cut the ball across the top of the penalty area and passed the ball square to Barber," Hogan said. "Barber touched the ball to her right, then hit a bent ball into the upper right corner of the goal to tie the game."

Neither team could capitalize on its chances late in the match.

"Each team had another chance to score, but both teams were so tired from the heat and three games in three days," Hogan said. "There wasn't a lot of excitement in the last 15-20 minutes."

Both teams advanced to the quarterfinals following the Northwest Nationals 5-2 win against the Southern California Blues.

La Roca, the Utah state cup winner, finished second in their group with a 1-1-0 record in its three team pool.

First half - 1, Sporting, 33:00. Second half - 2, Sting, Caitlin Barber (Aitana Vernon), 65:00.

Shots on goal - Sting 12, Sporting 15.

Saves - Sting, Tiegan Horton, 4; Sporting, 3.