Cd'A Charter girls plow into state 3A title game

By MARK NELKE

Sports editor

POST FALLS — A little bit of snow — OK, a LOT of snow — wasn’t going to stop the Coeur d’Alene Charter Academy girls soccer team from its fifth straight appearance in the state 3A championship game.

Sarah Hines mushed her way through the snow to score four goals as the Panthers beat the McCall-Donnelly Vandals 7-1 in a semifinal game Friday afternoon at The Fields at Real Life.

Snow began to fall midday on Friday, and the field was covered with snow when Charter’s game started.

“I’d heard there was going to be snow, I did not think it was going to be this bad,” said Hines, a senior. “We were telling each other that the snow was going to play a factor, but we still had to play our game, and we can’t blame stuff on the snow.”

Snow fell steadily throughout the game, with an accumulation of at least 3 inches. Volunteers used snow shovels to clear the lines and in front of each goal as best they could.

After Charter’s game, tournament officials canceled the rest of the day’s play and rescheduled for today, with all 3A games still at The Fields.

Friday’s other girls semifinal — Sugar-Salem vs. Marsh Valley — was rescheduled for today at 9 a.m. The winner will play Cd’A Charter (15-1-1) in the championship game at 5 p.m.; the loser will play McCall-Donnelly in the third-place match at 2 p.m. The consolation game between Teton and Sun Valley Community School is slated for today at 11 a.m.

Hines had a hat trick in the first 33 minutes, racing past the defenders to chase down through balls as the defenders struggled to change direction in the snow.

“Part of this is determination,” Charter coach Stacy Smith said of playing in the snow. “There’s going to be so many things that don’t go your way in a game like this, that you just have to grit it out.”

Kiley Cutler had three assists for the Panthers, and Cadence Wilson added a goal and an assist.

The lone goal by McCall-Donnelly (10-1-0) came from a rebound off a penalty kick off the post in the 79th minute.

“We tend to play finesse, and want to connect,” Smith said. “But at halftime I said ‘I cringe telling you this, but just hit it big, and hit it to the corners.’ Because right now we can’t build an attack because the ball is slowing us down, we’re slipping everywhere, and we have to slip a few through their back line, and the best way to do that is to go big.”

First half — 1, Charter, Sarah Hines (Cadence Wilson), 9:00. 2, Charter, Wilson (Bekah Hines), 27:00. 3, Charter, S. Hines (Kiley Cutler), 32:00. 4, Charter, S. Hines (unassisted), 33:00. Second half — 5, Charter, Ava Shivers (Cutler), 55:00. 6, Charter, S. Hines (B. Hines), 57:00. 7, Charter, Megan Moore (Cutler), 63:00. 8, MD, Ashtyn Jones (unassisted), 79:00.

Shots on goal — Charter 11, MD 10.

Saves — Charter, Danika Nowak 8; MD, Brooke Richardson 7.