Spokane Stealth 13, Sandpoint 9

LIBERTY LAKE — Junior Tess Sloan and senior Marin Browne both scored three goals apiece as the visiting Lady Bulldogs fell short of the Stealth in their season opener held Thursday at The HUB Sports Center.

"It was closer than the score looks; we were tied or up by one here and there and even scored the first two goals coming out of halftime," Sandpoint fifth-year head coach Nancy Dooley said. "You can tell we're a young team. We have some positioning work to do to understand where we need to be on the field in different scenarios."

Freshman Kat Argabrite added two goals, sophomore Josie Cox one goal, one assist and a team-high six groundballs for Sandpoint, which trailed 6-3 at intermission.

"We had good positioning on defense, our attack just needs to be a bit more sophisticated," Dooley said. "We're going to have to move their goalie a little more and take some better shots; we were frazzled at times, but overall, I was really impressed with everybody's effort, especially the large group of freshman who either had to start or play a lot of time."

Sophomore goalie Medea Moon had eight saves on a nearly 70% save rate in her varsity debut. Dooley also noted great play from junior Grace Gavin on the night.

"I'm impressed with her inaugural play," Dooley said of Moon. "As for Grace, she had an excellent game controlling the midfield, had some good draws, and did a good job recovering the ball on defense."

Sandpoint (0-1) will travel to Gonzaga Prep on Tuesday.

Spokane 2 4 2 5 — 13

Sandpoint 1 2 3 3 — 9

GOALS: SPT — T. Sloan 3, Browne 3, Argabrite 2, Cox 1. SPO — Paymer 5, Gerry 3, Merwin 3, Schmartz 2, Putney 1.

ASSISTS: SPT — Cox 1. SPO — Schmartz 2, Putney 1.

CAUSED TURNOVERS: SPT — Cox 1, Browne 1, Gavin 1, Baker 1, Montecchi 1. G. Loutzenhiser 1, Sloan 1. SPO — Schmartz 2, Snell 1.

GROUNDBALLS: SPT — Cox 6, M. Sloan 4, Moon 3, T. Sloan 3, Browne 3, Baker 2, Montecchi 1, Gavin 1, Sherman 1. SPO — Schmartz 13, Cassiz 2, Paymer 2, Snell 2, Merwin 1, Gerry 1, Chase 1, Fournier 1.

DRAW CONTROLS: SPT — Montecchi 3, Gavin 2, Sherman 1, Sperry 1, C. Loutzenhiser 1, T. Sloan 1. SPO — Paymer 7, Merwin 5, Schmartz 4.

SAVES: SPT — Moon 8. SPO — Fournier 10.