Soccer roundup: Bravettes snap losing streak

After opening its season with five straight road games, the Flathead (3-3) girls soccer team defeated Hellgate 5-1 in its home opener at Kidsport complex on Tuesday.

Flathead forward Paige Birky tallied a hat trick and the Bravettes scored three second-half goals to pull away from the Knights.

“The kids came out and played really hard today,” Flathead coach Scott Warnell said. “We were fired up for our first home game.

“They came out and controlled the ball really well. We’ve been working on receiving the ball and they did a good job of that from the front and the back.”

The win ended a three-game losing streak in which Flathead scored just one goal, but offense wasn’t a problem against Hellgate (0-4-2).

“We’ve been working on good quality finishes and we were able to do that today,” Warnell said. “The kids were crashing the goal hard.”

Flathead defeated Hellgate 2-1 when the two played each other Aug. 30.

The Bravettes travel to Missoula Big Sky Thursday before embarking on a five-game homestand beginning Saturday against Glacier.

Hellgate 1 0 — 1

Flathead 2 3 — 5

F — Paige Birky (assist Malia Ozegovich), 5:00

F — Birky, Stephanie Wilson, 11:00

H — Haley Glassy, Ruby Kazemi, 34:00

F — Jaclyn Rauthe, Monica White, 48:00

F — Birky, 60:00

F — Rauthe, Alexa May, 75:00

Shots — Hellgate 6, Flathead 15. Saves — Hellgate 7 (Emma Wiese, Megan Frank), Flathead 4 (Payton Pietron, Zoe Zander). Corner kicks — Hellgate 1, Flathead 3. Total fouls — Hellgate 5, Flathead 6. Yellow cards — Flathead 1. Red cards — none.

Columbia Falls 7, Bigfork 0

BIGFORK — Columbia Falls poured seven goals into winless Bigfork’s net in a lopsided Northwestern A victory.

Danielle Delvanthal opened the scoring in the 11th minute before assisting on three more Columbia Falls goals. Kinze Howell and Alexi Corbett each scored twice.

“I thought we had a few chances to do some things and either C-Falls stopped us, or we stopped ourselves,” Bigfork coach Charlie Appleby said. “Giving up two late goals in the first half killed the team, but they came back out and actually had a better second half. Jazzmyn Musser continued to be shelled in the net and continued to play well.

“I feel like we gave up a few easy goals today, and that is not something we need to do when you face a team like Columbia Falls, they’ll get the tough goals, we don’t need to give them away.”

Columbia Falls travels to Whitefish Thursday while Bigfork heads to Libby.

“We have three games coming up in the next two weeks, and if we play tough and put the past behind us, we have a great chance to put together some wins this season,” Appleby said.

Columbia Falls 4 3 — 7

Bigfork 0 0 — 0

C — Danielle Delventhal, 11:00

C — Kinze Howell (assist Delventhal), 28:00

C — Alexi Corbett, 38:00

C — Lindsay Strouse, Corbett, 39:00

C — Corbett, Delvanthal, 52:00

C — Angela Tamburell, Delvanthal, 65:00

C — Howell, Corbett, 70:00

Shots — Columbia Falls 25, Bigfork 5. Saves — Columbia Falls 3 (Kira Kamrud 2, Andrea Getts 1), Bigfork 15 (Jazzmyn Musser). Corner kicks — Columbia Falls 7, Bigfork 0. Total fouls — Columbia Falls 5, Bigfork 1. Yellow cards — none. Red cards — none.

Boys

Hellgate 5, Flathead 0

Kyle Higgins scored three goals in the second half to lead defending state champion Missoula Hellgate (4-2-1) to a win over Flathead (0-5-1) at Kidsport complex.

The Braves fell behind early, giving up a goal in the 11th minute to Reid Birgenheier, and never were able to get consistent pressure on Hellgate in the loss. Birgenheier scored again just before halftime, while Higgins put the icing on the cake for the Knights with his hat trick in the second half.

“It was an improved performance for us,” Flathead coach Chris Putzler said. “We gave up a couple of quick goals at the end of the second half. Overall, I was happy with way we played, though the result not indicative of our play.

“Hellgate is a solid team. You make mistakes they’ll capitalize on those. We had some attacking opportunities and were able to possess the ball and move up the field. Little victories.”

The Braves play their next game at Missoula Big Sky on Thursday.

Hellgate 2 3 — 5

Flathead 0 0 — 0

H — Reid Birgenheier (Kyle Higgins), 11:00

H — Birgenheier (Taylor Riley), 31:00

H — Higgins (Steen Shober), 47:00

H — Higgins (Tyler Casas), 75:00

H — Higgins (Waika Hamyoung), 76:00

Shots — Hellgate 23, Flathead 5. Saves — Hellgate 3 (Chaucer Larson), Flathead 13 (Clark Seaman). Total fouls — Hellgate 2, Flathead 4. Corner kicks — Hellgate 5, Flathead 6. Yellow cards — none. Red cards — none.

Bigfork 3, Columbia Falls 1

BIGFORK — Bigfork (5-2, 3-1 Northwestern A) rebounded after its first conference loss with a win over Columbia Falls.

Kyle Thomson scored in the first minute to get the Vikings off to a fast start before Columbia Falls tied it up in the 15th minute. Anthony Fopp scored four minutes late to give Bigfork another lead, and Thomson netted his second goal early in the second half.

Bigfork suffered its first conference loss in a 5-0 defeat against defending state champion Whitefish Thursday.

“They came out strong, there was a tad of a letdown, and then they responded,” Bigfork coach Keith Koslosky said. “The boys did a nice job of rebounding off a tough loss.

“Senior Austin Gordon played on all three lines and was absolutely superb and did everything I asked of him. Bryce MacCallum improves with every match. Anthony Fopp, Kyle Thomson and Matt Killian, they’re just the backbone of what we do. I presented a plan to them and they basically stuck with the plan almost to a fault. There were other things available, but they stuck to the plan, much to their credit.”

Bigfork travels to Libby Thursday.

“We are in a good position,” Koslosky said. “In terms of making the playoffs we certainly have control of our own destiny.”

Columbia Falls 1 0 — 1

Bigfork 2 1 — 3

B —Kyle Thomson (assist Bryce MacCallum), 1:00

C — Not available, 15:00

B — Anthony Fopp, Austin Gordon, 19:00

B — Thomson, Tyler Zavala, 48:00

Shots — Columbia Falls 6, Bigfork 15. Saves — Columbia Falls 4 (Mason Gedlaman), Bigfork 6 (Dillon Hilling). Corner kicks — Columbia Falls 6, Bigfork 4. Total fouls — Columbia Falls 6, Bigfork 4. Yellow cards — none. Red cards — none.