The Sandpoint Lacrosse Club was in rebuild mode during the 2021 season. Its roster was made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores.

The Bulldogs took some bumps and bruises a year ago, but it helped them get to where they needed to be, according to head coach Dakota Blaese.

“I basically had an all rookie team last year,” Blaese said. “We’d go up against Coeur d’Alene, and they’d beat us handily.”

Once the Bulldogs began practicing for the 2022 campaign, Blaese felt his young crew’s maturity levels increased.

“They've got more testosterone in their blood,” Blaese said. “Their competitive edge increased and so did their intensity levels.”

Blaese knew last year was the first year for a team that was in a rebuilding phase.

In year two, however, he wasn’t expecting the players to improve so much on and off the field.

“The attitude and energy that they’ve brought this year is just different,” Blaese said. “It makes it more enjoyable and more fun. The kids really want to do well.”

Blaese has a special connection to this class, not just because of the next three years, but because of the previous five.

Before he became the head coach of the high school club just last year, Blaese worked his way up the coaching ladder throughout the club.

He began coaching fifth and sixth graders. Those fifth and sixth graders he started his coaching career with are now the sophomores and juniors that he’s coaching today.

“It’s been fun watching them grow up,” Blaese said. “It’s gone from me towering over them when they were kids, to them completely towering over me, it’s amazing.”

Over half of the kids on the team played for Blaese in the past.

Just like most teams across Sandpoint, the lacrosse club was not able to practice outside in preparation for its first game.

Lacrosse is a hard game to practice within the confines of a gym, but the Bulldogs made do with the hand they were dealt.

“It’s tough when you have 35 kids in a limited space,” Blaese said. “We play on such a huge field, it's difficult to really get good practice in. We’ve been working on the fundamentals.”

One other key element the Bulldogs have been practicing is its defense and defensive schemes.

“I felt like our offense was good enough to compete,” Blaese said. “If we have a solid defense, it can keep us in games.”

Sandpoint opened up its campaign on Wednesday, March 16, against Coeur d’Alene, the same team that downed the Bulldogs 22-4 the year prior.

During the game, Sandpoint felt the script beginning to flip for its program, but still came up short 15-14.

Despite the loss, it felt like a win in regards to the direction of the program.

“It really opened their eyes, I think,” Blaese said. “We could be competitive and we could go to the playoffs. I’m trying to sell that to the kids.”

In its opener against Coeur d’Alene, Blayn Kanning led the team with four goals.

He also had an opportunity to tie the game in the waning seconds of regulation, but the refs called the goal no good.

“A few less penalties here, a save there, and it could’ve been a completely different game,” Blaese said. “For us to compete against a team that beat us 22-4 the year before and to come out and compete is huge for the kids.”

At halftime, the score was knotted up at five. When the Bulldogs went into the locker room, Blaese tried firing them up.

“I told them it was our game to lose; they're not used to being competitive with Sandpoint,” Blaese said. “After that, they started getting flustered and chippy when the second half started.”

At the beginning of the second half, the Vikings scored three straight goals to take the 8-5 lead.

The Bulldogs, a resilient group, clawed back within one 11-10. The Bulldogs just couldn’t get on top the rest of the way.

Levi Balison added three goals for the Bulldogs. Owen Wimmer and Gabe Link had two apiece.