PONDERAY — Several set-piece goals helped the Sandpoint Bulldogs breeze past the Lakeland Hawks 6-1 on Thursday at the Field of Dreams.

Sandpoint controlled possession for a majority of the game, putting intense pressure on Lakeland’s backline early. The Bulldogs broke the ice in the 16th minute thanks to a beautiful corner from junior midfielder Pax Longanecker, which found the head of sophomore Wesley Drube for his first of two goals against the Hawks. 

Another corner kick from Longanecker in the 26th minute created chaos in front of the net. Junior Blake Bogadi used it to find Colton Dickinson, who sent the ball into the back of the net to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 halftime advantage.  

“[Longanecker] is good at reading if the goalie has positioned his wall poorly and is on the wrong side of the goal or makes little mistakes; Pax is good at capitalizing on those,” Sandpoint head coach Dan Anderson said. “We’ve moved him up a little bit further forward to make more of his offensive threat, and I think that’s paying off.” 

The Bulldogs have indeed seen the pay out from Longanecker’s offensive capabilities. He added to his Wednesday hat trick with another goal on Thursday, drawing and drilling a long penalty kick to put the Bulldogs up 3-0 in the 42nd minute. 

Drube got back in on the action just seven minutes later, punching in a pass from Adrian Torres in the 49th minute to extend the Bulldog advantage to 4-0. Bogadi got a goal of his own shortly after in the 58th minute as Sandpoint took advantage of their quality chances. 

Torres polished off the Bulldogs’ six-goal outing with a nice finish on a pass from Dixon Reed in the 61st minute. 

“We work so hard on the practice field, and we’ve had games where we feel like we’re dominating but not putting balls in the back of the net,” Anderson said. “So, we need a game like today, where we were finishing our chances and being rewarded for all the dominance going on.” 

Thanks to the dominance, Sandpoint was able to get in every player on the varsity roster, including backup goalkeeper Tate Gilman. The sophomore notched his first save of the game, snatching the ball away from a free runner, which his teammates thoroughly celebrated with him before play resumed. 

The Bulldogs move to 5-1 with the victory and are scheduled to get 11 days off before their next game, a rematch against Cd'A Charter at 6 p.m. at War Memorial Field.  

First half — SPT Wesley Drube (Pax Longanecker), 16:00, SPT Colton Dickinson (Blake Bogadi), 26:00. Second half — SPT Pax Longanecker (penalty kick), 42:00, SPT Drube (Adrian Torres), 49:00, SPT Bogadi (unassisted), 58:00, SPT Torres (Dixon Reed), 61:00, LH Cole Zlateff (unassisted), 75:00.

Shots on goal — SPT 11, LH 8 

Saves — SPT Landon Brinkmeier 6, Tate Gilman 1. LH Levi Foss 6.