State A boys soccer: Bulldogs boot B.C.

WHITEFISH — For the second straight season, the Whitefish boys soccer team held a state championship celebration on its home field.

The unbeaten Bulldogs reaffirmed their dominance over Class A by thrashing the Billings Central Rams 4-1 in a snowy title game Saturday at Smith Fields.

“We’ve been looking forward to this since the end of last season,” Whitefish senior forward Sam Donaldson said. “Every single thing we did was a step toward this.”

With multiple starters returning from last year’s title-winning squad, Whitefish was expected to repeat, and carried that burden all season.

“The bar was set so high that it was kind of like, if we didn’t win, it was a failure,” senior midfielder Sean Janni said.

“Really there was no other option,” senior goalkeeper Thomas Clark added.

Instead of shying away from that pressure, Whitefish (15-0-0) met it head on, exceeding its lofty expectations with a 12-0-0 regular season, before peaking in the playoffs.

The Bulldogs dissected Livingston 5-0 in the quarterfinals, shredded Frenchtown 8-0 in the semifinals and bullied Billings Central (13-2-0) in the title game, despite receiving its stiffest test of the season. No other team came within three goals of the dominant Bulldogs.

“I wish we had a few more games so we could get even better, because I know we could,” Donaldson said.

Whitefish coach O’Brien Byrd said that statement is indicative of his team’s attitude all season.

“They love the game,” he said. “At halftime everyone was just oozing emotion, and now everybody’s hugging everybody. They want to play on Monday. They’re like, coach, can we practice Monday? They just don’t want it to end.”

Whitefish opened the championship game with a bang. Janni scored within 20 seconds of the opening kickoff, tapping in a rebound after Donaldson flew down the right flank to put the initial shot on target.

The ensuing 20 minutes were played at a torrid pace, with both teams trying to catch the other on the break.

The ball bounced Billings Central’s way in the 20th minute when Conor Sheehy ran into the 18-yard box unmarked, collected a loose ball and fired into the net to level the score.

“It was just a mistake by our back line and we knew they couldn’t manage to keep scoring on us,” Janni said. “And we knew we would keep scoring on them, so we weren’t concerned.”

After conceding the goal, Whitefish began to win the battle for possession. The Bulldogs first established possession in the middle third, then fullbacks Michael Reimer and Connor Gray were free to join the attack. With more numbers on offense, Whitefish asserted itself in the final third and the chances began to flow.

In the 33rd minute, center forward Nathan Boone played a ball wide to Donaldson on the left. Donaldson dribbled into the 18-yard box, but Billings Central goalkeeper Joey Thompson charged and smothered the shot.

The go-ahead goal came five minutes later. Billings Central attempted to clear a corner kick from Boone, but midfielder Tommy Murphy corralled the clearance and passed back to Boone on the right. Boone struck a cross to the edge of the 6-yard box and Curran Edland scored from close range.

“After we scored I knew they weren’t going to score on us again,” Donaldson said.

With the temperature hovering just above freezing and heavy, wet snow soaking the field, Byrd said his forwards looked a bit tentative most of the first half.

“We have such fast players, but they were cautious of slipping and falling. I think the first half they were just trying to find their feet, then in the second half it was just no holds barred.”

Whitefish opened the second half much like it finished the first, asserting its dominance in possession and creating chance after chance. It added its third goal in the 46th minute when Edland bent a 25-yard free kick over the wall of defenders and into the lower-left corner of the net. Then the Bulldogs removed all doubt in the 70th minute when Boone sprung Donaldson on a breakaway, Donaldson dribbled around the charging goalkeeper and scored to put Whitefish up 4-1.

Shortly after the final whistle, the largest crowd of the season stormed the field to help celebrate.

“I challenged the community, and these guys did too at school," Byrd said. "We said it’s going to be cruddy weather but come on out and get behind us. These players deserve the support and the community answered in trumps.”

Celebrating with their classmates was a bittersweet moment for the Whitefish seniors, but Clark said there was no better way to end their high school soccer careers.

“It’s as happy an ending as it can be. You don’t want it to end, but this is the way to end it.”

Billings Central    1    0    —    1

Whitefish    2    2    —    4

Whitefish - Sean Janni (Sam Donaldson), 1:00; Curran Edland (Nathan Boone), 38:00; Edland, free kick, 46:00; Donaldson (Boone), 70:00.

Billings Central - Conor Sheehy, 20:00.

Shots - Billings Central 6, Whitefish 12. Saves - Billings Central 9 (Joey Thompson), Whitefish 7 (Thomas Clark). Corner kicks - Billings Central 3, Whitefish 4. Total fouls - Billings Central 6, Whitefish 7. Yellow cards - Billings Central 2, Whitefish 1.