Senior-night success in Whitefish
WHITEFISH - The homecoming crowd at Smith Fields was treated to a pair of impressive soccer victories on Tuesday.
The Whitefish boys powered past Bigfork 7-0 in the first game and improved to 2-2 in Northern A with three games left in the regular season.
Not to be outdone, the Whitefish girls scored a season-high 11 goals to win their seventh game in a row, 11-1. The girls hiked their record to 8-1 overall and 5-0 in conference.
"We were just on today," Whitefish girls coach Erin Morrison said. "We've been focusing on getting shots on frame and shooting quick and they did it today."
Seniors Karissa DeMarco and Presley Pritchard shined on senior night, combining for five goals and four assists. Pritchard had three goals and an assist and DeMarco added two scores and three assists. Junior Natalie Gayner had four scores and an assist of her own. Junior Sam Dittman scored twice, including a long goal from roughly 40 yards out.
Caitlin Charlebois had the lone goal for Bigfork.
In the boys game, senior Cody Ling, junior Casey Beiser and sophomore Sam Donaldson each scored two goals apiece and senior Jack Steele had three assists for Whitefish (4-4-1 overall).
"We needed this," Whitefish boys coach O'Brien Byrd said of the homecoming, senior-night victory. "We needed the win today for the confidence levels."
Sophomore Curran Edland added a goal as well.
"They're a great team, they just need to play like it, they just need to believe in themselves," Byrd said of his squad. "We've been in a good position to win games this year but we've fallen apart in certain situations because of confidence. Today they showed what they can do if they have that confidence."
Whitefish heads to Polson on Saturday. The boys play at 11 a.m. and the girls follow at 1 p.m. Bigfork hosts Libby on Thursday with the boys playing at 4 p.m. and the girls at 6 p.m.
Bigfork 0 0 - 0
Whitefish 2 5 - 7
WF - Cody Ling (Jack Steele), 21:00
WF - Casey Beiser (Sean Janni), 22:00
WF - Sam Donaldson (Steele), 45:00
WF - Beiser (Jonathan Reimer), 62:00
WF - Donaldson (Connor Gray), 64:00
WF - Curran Edland (Skylar Munzing), 65:00
WF - Ling (Steele), 68:00
Shots on goal - Bigfork 3, Whitefish 23; Goalie saves - Bigfork 17 (Nate Roberson), Whitefish 3 (Thomas Clark 2, Chance Ling 1); Corner kicks - Bigfork 2, Whitefish 3; Fouls - Bigfork 4, Whitefish 9; Cards - None.
Girls
Whitefish 11, Bigfork 1
Bigfork 1 0 - 1
Whitefish 4 7 - 11
WF - Karissa DeMarco, 18:00
WF - Natalie Gayner (Michela Millette), 20:00
WF - Gayner (Maggie Frankino), 21:00
BF - Caitlin Charlebois, 35:00
WF - Sam Dittman (Caroline Carbo), 38:00
WF - Gayner (Presley Pritchard), 46:00
WF - DeMarco (Gayner), 47:00
WF - Gayner (DeMarco), 53:00
WF - Pritchard (Dittman), 64:00
WF - Pritchard (Carbo), 69:00
WF - Dittman (DeMarco), 74:00
WF - Pritchard (DeMarco), 78:00
Shots on goal - Bigfork 4, Whitefish 25; Saves - Bigfork 8 (Sierra Fischer), Whitefish 4 (Kelly Marsh 2, Madison Cross 2); Corner kicks - Bigfork 4, Whitefish 3 ; Fouls - Bigfork 1, Whitefish 3; Cards - None.