Whitefish girls down Jackets; Bulldog boys fall

The Daily Inter Lake

WHITEFISH - Sarah Clarke, Mariah Driscoll, Alex White and Carmel Johnston all scored in a shootout Saturday allowing Whitefish to down Stevensville 7-5 in a first-round Class A soccer playoff match at Smith Fields.

Whitefish and Stevensville were deadlocked at 2-all at the end of regulation play.

Neither team scored in the first 10-minute overtime session, but both teams added goals late in the second overtime to force the shootout.

Whitefish, going first, scored on its first three shots in the shootout, missed on its fourth, but connected on its fifth, which was Johnston's.

Whitefish keeper Kristin NallyMadigan stopped Stevensville's first attempt in the shootout. The Yellowjackets did connect twice after that.

"My hat's off to Stevensville," said Whitefish coach Lini Reading.

"They had a huge heart today.

"The kids worked so hard," said Reading of her Bulldogs.

"We didn't give up many shots. We gave up some opportunities."

Whitefish outshot Stevensville, 29-6 in the match.

The last time Whitefish was involved in a shootout, the Bulldogs came up short. That was the championship game of the 2002 state tournament versus Hamilton.

"I believe we deserved to win," said Reading.

"We have to work on finishing (however)."

Alex White scored Whitefish's first goal, at 10 minutes, when she followed in a shot by Carmel Johnston that rebounded off Stevensville keeper Cassie Zier.

"A nice, low drive," said Reading of the goal.

White followed with another goal at 66 minutes off a pass from Carly Lengstorf.

Lengstorf scored on a penalty kick at 98 minutes.

But Stevensville tied the match a final time in the final seconds on a goal by Allison Mullin.

Whitefish, 9-3-1, will host Corvallis, who beat Billings Central on Saturday, in second-round action.

Stevensville finishes at 5-5-2.

BULLDOGS 7, YELLOWJACKETS 5

Stevensville 1 1 0 1 (2) - 5

Whitefish 1 1 0 1 (4) - 7

Stevensville - 4:00, Kyla Wasser; 53:00, Athena Bradshaw; 100:00, Allison Mullin; shootout - Charlie Griffin, Heather Garnet

Whitefish - 10:00, Alex White (Carmel Johnston); 66:00, White (Carly Lengstorf); 98:00, Lengstorf; shootout - Sarah Clarke, Mariah Driscoll, White, Johnston

Shots on goal - Stevensville 6, Whitefish 29

Corner kicks - Stevensville 5, Whitefish 5

Goalie saves - Stevensville 16, (Cassie Zier), Whitefish 5, (Kristin NallyMadigan)

Fouls - Stevensville 15, Whitefish 7

Cards - Stevensville, two yellow

BOYS

Corvallis 3, Whitefish 1

Corvallis capitalized and Whitefish didn't.

It was as simple as that.

The Blue Devils had just six shots on goal for the match, but connected on three and that was more than enough for a first-round Class A soccer playoff victory over Whitefish.

Nathan Lee scored twice, at 10 and 13 minutes, and Taylor Nagel finished with another at 22 minutes.

Whitefish avoided a shutout with Preston Taylor's goal at 75 minutes.

"They had three opportunities in the first half and scored on all of them," said Whitefish coach O'Brien Byrd.

"We kept them pinned in their half. We had countless opportunties."

Whitefish outshot Corvallis 22-6. Corner kicks favored Whitefish, 3-2.

"You have to have a little luck on your side," said Byrd.

"Today was one of those days where we didn't have it and they did. We had three miscues in the back, the whole game, and they scored on all three."

The loss was a disappointing finish to a most successful season. The Bulldogs came into the playoffs with a 7-3-2 record.

Corvallis, 5-6-1, now advances to face the Hamilton/Libby winner on Saturday.

"It was the best regular-season record we've had in three years," said Byrd.

"In my opinion, the best shot at a state title in three years. It's a hard one to swallow. My heart goes out to the seniors."

BLUE DEVILS 3, BULLDOGS 1

Corvallis 3 0 - 3

Whitefish 0 1 - 1

Corvallis - 10:30, Nathan Lee; 13:30, Lee; 22:00, Taylor Nagel

Whitefish - 75:00, Preston Taylor

Shots on goal - Corvallis 6, Whitefish 22

Corner kicks - Corvallis 2, Whitefish 3

Goalie saves - Corvallis 18 (Colin Campbell), Whitefish 4 (David Hobbs)

Fouls - Corvallis 14, Whitefish 15

Cards - None