SANDPOINT — Sandpoint girls soccer was treated to some home cooking for the first time in a long time on Thursday and they used it to lock up the No. 1 seed to the 4A Region 1 tournament.

The Bulldogs took down Moscow 2-0 at War Memorial Field.

It was the Bulldogs’ first home match in nearly four weeks and only their second of the season.

Head coach Conor Baranski was happy to get the victory, but he believes the No. 1 team in 4A has another gear that they still haven't reached yet.

"We've been taking care of business, but I would like us to raise our level a bit," he said.

The win over the Bears allowed Sandpoint to complete a season sweep of the team that took away their hopes of a state bid last fall.

Baranski said Moscow does a great job of getting a lot of numbers around the ball, but that opens up gaps on the field and he felt the Bulldogs didn't capitalize on those opportunities enough on Thursday.

"To my players' credit, after halftime and talking to them about it they executed what we talked about better," he said, "but ... I want more of them to solve that. I can't call a timeout and point those things out for them."

The first shot of Thursday’s match also resulted in the first goal. In the 13th minute, Moscow was called for a hand ball in the 18-yard box. Senior Kylie Williams stepped up and buried the penalty kick in the bottom right corner to give SHS a 1-0 lead.

Sandpoint held the Bears without a shot in the first half and dominated possession throughout, but it took them a while to get rolling.

As the minutes ticked by in the opening half, the Bulldogs finally started to generate more offensive pressure about midway through. In the 29th minute, Sierrah VanGesen got a nice look at net but fired the shot just wide.

Right before halftime, Kailee McNamee had a dangerous chance on the right side of the net, but the Moscow keeper came up with a big save to keep the score at 1-0 at the break.

Baranski inserted some of his bench players to open the second half and the Bulldogs continued to control the match.

In the 65th minute, Moscow registered their only shot.

Sandpoint ratcheted up the intensity in the final 10 minutes as they searched for another tally. Kate McGregor and VanGesen both had quality scoring opportunities, but just couldn’t slip their shots past the Moscow keeper.

Then in the dying seconds of the match, the Bulldogs broke through during a frantic sequence in front of the Moscow net. A shot by Sandpoint destined for the back of the net was blocked by a Moscow defender standing in front of the goal. The ball then came out to Hannah Harvey, who blasted a shot off the crossbar. McGregor was there on the other side of the net to secure the rebound and she cashed in Sandpoint's second goal.

Sandpoint hasn't played on the artificial turf for some time and Baranski believes the surface may have impacted his players.

"The ball bounces more and I think sometimes our players weren't clean enough," he said.

Baranski thought Piper Frank had a strong match.

"I was rotating players and I never rotated her because I felt like she was kind of the engine of the team," he said.

Sandpoint (8-0, 7-0 IEL) hosts Ridgeline, Wash., at 12:45 p.m. Saturday at Pine Street Field. With a win next Thursday against Lakeland, the Bulldogs would clinch the 4A-5A Inland Empire League title.

First half — 1, Sandpoint, Kylie Williams (penalty kick), 13:00. Second half — 2, Sandpoint, Kate McGregor (Hannah Harvey), 80:00.

Shots — Moscow 1, Sandpoint 17.

Saves — Moscow, Gracie Beck 8; Sandpoint, Kameryn Nadeja 1, Lilliana Brinkmeier 0.