5A REGION 1 BOYS SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP: Finding its way back home

COEUR d'ALENE — At this time last year, the Post Falls boys soccer team was at home while two of its league opponents competed at the state 5A tournament.

Fast forward a year, the Trojans will still be at home, but with plenty of work still ahead of them.

Sophomore Andon Brandt scored off a rebound in the 72nd minute for the Trojans, who held off the Lake City Timberwolves 1-0 in the 5A Region 1 boys soccer championship, advancing to the state tournament starting next Thursday at 11:30 p.m. at Post Falls High.

"It's really fun because of these close matches," said Post Falls junior goalkeeper Kael McGowan, who had three saves in the win. "In practice, we kind of mess around, but we get the best out of each practice we have."

Post Falls (8-2-2) opens at state against Boise. Lake City (8-2-3) will face Centennial High of Boise in a play-in match on Saturday at Middleton High.

Lake City claimed the top seed to regionals by holding a point differential tiebreaker over Post Falls and Coeur d'Alene after all three programs finished 3-1-2 in Inland Empire League play.

"I'm super proud of this team and the way they played," Lake City coach Alan Rich said. "Especially considering that due to injuries, illness and recent quarantine issues, we played a quality Post Falls team with a combined JV/varsity team that we literally put together on Tuesday. Soccer is a game where you are one missed call, one bad bounce or one mental lapse away from losing and tonight wasn't our night. We couldn't finish several opportunities, including three shots that hit the post."

Brandt, the lone Post Falls sophomore, was able to shoot past the Lake City goalkeeper for the only goal of the match.

"I'm the youngest on the team as a sophomore, so I've had to step it up," Brandt said. "After a few games, getting used to that contact and pace of play, I just started playing better."

McGowan had one save in Saturday's 2-1 win over Coeur d'Alene to advance to the regional final.

"It's all on you after that back line," McGowan said. "You've really got to take what you've learned and use it in a game."

"He only had to be big one or two times," Post Falls coach Gabe Lawson said. "But that save he had to make, he was stellar. We missed the ball, and the centerback misses it and Kael has to come up big. And that's how you win championships. You've got to have big moments in big games, and Kael came up huge on that save. It was a tight game, but man, he wasn't that same keeper last year. He's matured into one of the best keepers in our league."

Post Falls has won or tied in its last 10 matches after losing its first two matches of the season.

"We started off a little slow this year," Lawson said. "Every single game, we improved a little bit. And we lost our leading scorer (Logan Koller) the last time we played Lake City (Sept. 24 at home), so we've had to find ways to crawl through these games. Defensively, we know we're pretty tight and we've got a great keeper. We always seem to find a way to score. We don't know who that's going to come off of, but we're very confident that we're going to come out on top."

The goal was Brandt's first of the postseason.

"We've had some PKs because of tackles in the box because of him," Lawson said. "He didn't start off the season playing, and now he's an integral part of what we're trying to do."

First half — none. Second half — 1, PF, Andon Brandt (free kick), 72:00.

Shots on goal — PF 11, LC 11.

Saves — PF, Kael McGowan 3; LC, Tyler Allred 5.