Sandpoint 5, Lakeland 0

SANDPOINT — When the goals came, they came in bunches.

Sophomore Alvaro Santos scored the first two goals of the game and the No. 1 Bulldogs scored three second-half goals in the span of just four minutes as they shut out the No. 4 Hawks in a 5A District 1-2 semifinal match held Saturday at War Memorial Field.

It was a slow start, but Santos broke the ice in the 34th minute. After a through ball from senior Logan McGrann, the exchange student from Spain dribbled by three different defenders and sent one inside the far post for the 1-0 advantage heading into halftime.

"To be able to bring Alvaro off the bench is such a luxury — he's a game changer," Sandpoint High head coach Dan Anderson said. "He's a player that gives you so much and infuses energy and pace into a game when it's needed."

Five minutes into the second half, Santos then showed off his footwork once again when he dribbled by two defenders traveling east-to-west across the field and fired in an off-balance, left-footed goal for the 2-0 lead.

During the 54th minute, Caiden Gion got in on the action. The senior used his height to his advantage as he rose up and delivered a beautifully struck header that bounced hard in front of the goal line and in off a Jack Treman corner kick. Treman, a senior, then scored a goal of his own two minutes later to extend the advantage to 4-0 after he battled for possession just outside the box, turned and lasered a shot into the top-left corner of the net.

Sophomore Pax Longanecker capped off the scoring in the 58th minute. After fellow sophomore Gus Penrose's shot was deflected by the opposing goalkeeper, Longanecker was in the perfect position to clean things up for Sandpoint's fifth and final goal of the night.

Junior goalkeeper Landon Brinkmeier made four saves and pitched his seventh shutout of the year in the winning effort.

"Those games are always nervy, when you're in a loser-out game, knocking on the door and feel like you should already have a couple of goals," coach Anderson said. "It's easy to go away from the gameplan, but we stuck with the things we were doing well — moving the ball and working for each other — and knowing that if we continued to do that, the goals were going to come... and they did."

Coach Anderson said the handful of goals allowed him to rotate in his entire lineup on the evening.

"Everyone got to contribute; it was just a real team effort," coach Anderson said. "We're looking forward to Tuesday and would love to have the community come out and support us."

No. 1 Sandpoint (12-3-2) hosts No. 3 Lewiston (7-7) on Tuesday, Oct. 14, at War Memorial Field for the 5A District 1-2 Championship. The match is set to begin at 3:30 p.m.

The Bulldogs and Bengals met twice during the regular season, with Lewiston winning the first matchup by a score of 2-0 and Sandpoint winning the second meeting by a score of 2-0. Lewiston defeated No. 2 Moscow by a score of 2-1 in their district semifinal match this past Saturday.

1st half — 1, SPT, Alvaro Santos (Logan McGrann), 34'. 2nd half — 2, SPT, Alvaro Santos (unassisted), 45'. 3, SPT, Caiden Gion (Jack Treman), 54'. 4, SPT, Jack Treman (unassisted), 56'. 5, SPT, Pax Longanecker (unassisted), 58'.

Shots on goal: SPT — 14. LL —  4.

Saves: SPT — Landon Brinkmeier 4. LL — Ty Van Meeteren 9.