Cd'A Charter primed for run at fourth straight state title

POST FALLS — After winning three straight state championships, and in the midst of another dominant season this year, expectations remain high for the Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy girls soccer team.

“There’s definitely a big target on our back, but we’ve shown ourselves to be worthy of that title, and I’m excited to get one more,” senior center back Lauryn Keith said after Coeur d’Alene Charter defeated Grangeville 11-0 in the 3A District 1-2 girls soccer championship game on a rainy, chilly Saturday afternoon at The Fields at Real Life Ministries.

Both teams had already qualified for state next week by winning their semifinal games on Saturday.

Junior Sarah Hines scored four goals and added two assists for Coeur d’Alene Charter (15-1-0), which will face District 5 runner-up American Falls in its state tourney opener Thursday at 10 a.m. PDT at Vallivue High in Caldwell. American Falls beat Teton 2-1 in a play-in game on Saturday.

Grangeville (8-8-0), headed to state for the first time in its third year as a program, opens vs. Weiser (11-5-2) on Thursday at 1 p.m. at Vallivue.

Cadence Wilson and Isabella Lucky each tallied a pair of goals on Saturday for Coeur d’Alene Charter, which led 4-0 after 18 minutes.

Coeur d’Alene Charter graduated five seniors — including four who have played a ton of minutes the past four seasons — from last year’s 21-0-0 squad that brought home the Panthers’ fourth state title in five years. The program is in its eighth year, and the Panthers are headed to state for the seventh straight year.

So it’s generally a reload, not a rebuild.

“I’m surprised at how strong we’ve been offensively,” fourth-year Charter coach Stacy Smith said. “I wasn’t sure how we would set up our defense; I’m pleased with how that’s coming together, so we’re stronger than I thought we would be there as well.”

Smith said Keith, “has been a rock back there” on defense, along with midfielder Sandy Faulkner.

Hines and Lucky, a sophomore, have handled quite a bit of the scoring, and junior Kiley Cutler has stepped up on offense as well, Smith said.

“Last year we had a lot of vocal people, so I found I had to be more of a vocal leader (this year), said Keith, in her second year as a team captain and fourth as a starter, having played forward as a freshman and gradually worked her way back.

The Panthers have been rarely challenged in North Idaho in recent years. Other than Intermountain League foe Timberlake, Charter steamrolls most foes, and tries to schedule bigger schools like Lewiston, as well as JV teams from Lake City and Coeur d’Alene.

This year, 13 of their 15 wins have come by shutout, and they have outscored their opponents 136-4 in 16 games.

Coeur d’Alene’s lone loss this season was a 2-0 setback at Freeman. Before that, the Panthers had gone 41-0-1 in its past 42 matches.

“It sounds weird to say I was happy that we lost, but I was happy,” Keith said. “Because it showed that we’re not invincible, and it showed what we need to work on, and helped us get better.”

Smith agreed.

“It helped us recognize that we have to play fast, play faster against those stronger teams,” she said. ‘It’s going to be a much faster game down at state.”

First half — 1, Charter, Sarah Hines (unassisted), 6:00. 2, Charter, Cadence Wilson (S. Hines), 13:00. 3, Charter, S. Hines (Ava Shivers), 16:00. 4, Charter, Kiley Cutler (unassisted), 18:00. 5, Charter, Wilson (Cutler), 25:00. 6, Charter, Isabella Lucky (Rebekah Hines), 34:00. Second half — 7, Charter, S. Hines (Mercedes Zepeda), 44:00. 8, Charter, S. Hines (Shivers), 51:00. 9, Charter, Lucky (S. Hines), 55:00. 10, Charter, Lucky (Danica Nowak), 57:00. 11, Charter, Eden Harger (Shivers), 71:00.

Shots on goal — Grange 2, Charter 35.

Saves — Grange, Talia Brown 22; Charter, Danica Nowak, Zhaely Clemens 2.