COEUR d’ALENE — To defend its home turf, the Lake City Timberwolves turned to its Division I defender when they needed her most on Thursday night.

And she delivered.

Sophomore defender Bridget Rieken — who recently verbally committed to play soccer at Washington State — scored two goals for the Timberwolves in a 3-1 win over the Coeur d’Alene Vikings in a 5A Inland Empire League match at the school’s football field.

“She’s played well really late in the season,” Lake City coach Matt Ruchti said. “She’s scored a lot of big goals for us. We’ve gotten better in some different spots throughout the season. We had our struggles, but it kind of forced us to play a little different instead of sending it into the same places and same players. We’ve actually kind of figured out how to play differently and it’s made us a little better I think in the long run.”

It is the fourth straight 5A IEL title for Lake City (9-3-2, 4-1-1 5A IEL), which hosts No. 4 seed Post Falls in the opening round of the 5A Region 1 tournament Saturday at noon.

“We just try to play well,” Ruchti said. “It’s been a good formula so far and hopefully we can continue that on Saturday against Post Falls. They’re a good team that’s getting healthier than they’ve been all season. They’re going to give us a good fight and luckily we’ll get to play at home.”

Coeur d’Alene (8-3-1, 4-2), which finished second, will host No. 3 Lewiston in the other opening round match on Saturday, also at noon.

“They’re a great program and Andy’s going a great job with them,” Ruchti said. “I know all of those kids and think highly of all those kids over there. They battle and work hard and they force us to get better.”

Coeur d’Alene was seeking its first league title since 2009.

“It was a tough one for us,” fourth-year Coeur d’Alene coach Andy Vredenburg said. “You’ve got to hand it to Lake City. They came out and finished their chances. We had some opportunities, but just couldn’t get them in. I was proud of the way the girls played, and felt we played better than the first time we played them (a 1-0 Coeur d’Alene home win on Sept. 26). They just came out and finished their chances, and we, unfortunately, couldn’t.”

Coeur d’Alene split with Lewiston during the regular season, with each winning on the road.

“All our focus is on Lewiston right now,” Vredenburg said. “We’ve got to win that game. We’ve got a couple of injured players, but for the most part, we’re fairly healthy right now. (Junior midfielder) Kylie Hanson just got cleared to play from a torn left anterior cruciate ligament in January, so we’re not sure how much we’ll be able to play her. But we have her if we need her, and that’s a big thing for us. Good things can happen when she’s on the field, so we’re hoping we can use her.”

Lake City beat Post Falls in both regular season matches.

“We’re looking forward to putting together a good game plan for Saturday and getting to face Post Falls,” Ruchti said. “It will be a difficult game. We’ll have to out think the moment and we’ll have to get our opportunities.”

Caitlin Barber opened the scoring for Lake City on an assist from Chloe Teets in the 23rd minute, stretching the halftime advantage to 2-0 on a goal by Rieken in the 36th.

Coeur d’Alene pulled within a goal on a goal by Maddy Morris in the 64th minute before Rieken sealed the win on a header in the 69th.

First half — 1, LC, Caitlin Barber (Chloe Teets), 23:00. 2, LC, Bridget Rieken (Teets), 36:00. Second half — 3, Cd’A, Maddy Morris (Rachel Brendis), 64:00. 4, LC, Rieken (unassisted), 69:00.

Shots on goal — Cd’A 8, LC 9.

Saves — Cd’A, Ali Rollins 9; LC, Emily Parson 5.