COEUR d’ALENE — With just nine minutes remaining, Sandpoint senior Aliya Strock, who was playing through a severe bloody nose and an injury, scored the game-winning goal to lift Sandpoint girls soccer over Lake City, 1-0.

Lake City dominated on all fronts in the first half, but Sandpoint remained resilient. At halftime head coach Conor Baranski told the girls to challenge themselves. To their credit, they did exactly that. In the second half, Sandpoint created more chances and did not let Lake City pin them in their own territory. With 20 minutes to go, Sandpoint’s Madeline Mitchell received a red card on a controversial call, so the Bulldogs went down a player.

Down but not out, Aliya Strock made some magic happen and scored a pure-hustle goal off a broken play during the 81st minute.

“I’m extremely proud of this entire team’s ability to bounce back after a rough first half,” Baranski said. “We overcame a very talented, hard-working team. I think our team will be referencing this second half all season.”

Sandpoint (1-0) will host Post Falls on Monday at War Memorial Field.

SANDPOINT 1, LAKE CITY 0