STATE 3A GIRLS SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP: Full circle

POST FALLS — The match had gotten to the point where senior Riley Jo Anderson just had to hope something good was going to happen.

Then, it did.

"I didn't see it honestly," Anderson said. "I just closed my eyes and literally prayed because I'd looked at the clock right before and everything was slow motion. I just saw the ball heading in, and saw the ball going in, and thought 'Oh, dear God, please' and then the next thing we knew everyone was running in. I started crying and all the relief came at once."

After playing through regulation, and one 10-minute overtime, Coeur d'Alene Charter senior Sarah Hines connected on a goal in the 97th minute as the Panthers (16-1-1) beat the Sugar-Salem Diggers 1-0 at The Fields at Real Life for their fifth straight state 3A girls soccer championship, and sixth in seven years.

"It's kind of a full-circle thing," Hines said. "I scored the winning goal my freshman year in the championship game, and then everyone came crashing down on me and hugging me again. It was a cool way to end it."

The match, on a chilly night, was 3 minutes from a shootout before Hines, in a scramble perhaps 2 yards from the net, scored to the right post past the Sugar-Salem keeper on an assist from Isabella Lucky.

"I didn't realize she (Lucky) was going to cross it," Hines said. "They came crashing and I thought the keeper was going to get it, and then it bounced off Kiley (Cutler), so I thought, 'Oh gosh,' I'd better knock this in. I just stuck my leg out and put it in."

Cutler, a senior, had a few near-misses in regulation, and nearly won the match herself in a scramble in front of the net.

"I remember seeing the ball coming in because nobody else was going to," Cutler said. "The ball hit my leg, and then it took out the keeper and it gave Sarah a chance to knock it into the back of the net."

Cutler, Anderson and Sarah Hines are four-year starters.

"It's just as exciting as the first time we won the state title," Cutler said. "We had students and more of our family here, and on turf, which we like."

Coeur d'Alene Charter outshot Sugar-Salem 33-1 in the match, including 15-1 in the second half.

"We would have preferred to put a few more in the back of the net," fifth-year Coeur d'Alene Charter coach Stacy Smith said. "But we had to be creative and had to be persistent, and it paid off. It took us a little bit longer than we would have liked, but it paid off."

Sugar-Salem (16-3-0) defeated Marsh Valley in a penalty kick shootout earlier on Saturday in a semifinal pushed back due to snow on Friday.

Sugar-Salem limited Charter's chances by playing six players in the box to take away any open lanes to the goal.

"We weren't frustrated with anything Sugar-Salem was doing," Smith said. "We moved some players up and they did the right thing. We just had to keep knocking that door down."

On Thursday, Charter beat Kimberly 11-0, a tournament record (since 2000, when the Idaho High School Activities Association took over sponsorship of the state tournament) for goals in a 3A match.

Charter also set a 3A tournament record for total goals (18), breaking the previous mark of Weiser (17, 2015).

Charter won 13 matches by shutout this season.

"It's incredible," Smith said. "It might be one of the sweetest victories to be honest. We were playing some great soccer and they weren't getting any pressure on our defensive end. We were moving well, passing well and to get one at the end in the last couple of minutes, it was incredible. I'm very proud of them."

First half — none. Second half — none. First overtime — none. Second overtime — 1, Charter, Sarah Hines (Kiley Cutler), 97:00.

Shots on goal — SS 1, Charter 33.

Saves — SS, unknown, 19; Charter, Danica Nowak 1.