Soccer: Wildkats roar past Vals
COLUMBIA FALLS — Haley Purdy and Alexi Corbett each poured in two goals as the Columbia Falls girls easily pulled away from Bigfork 6-0 in a Northwestern A conference match.
Purdy’s goal three minutes into the contest set the tone for the Wildkats (1-0-0 Northwestern A, 2-1-2), who are undefeated at home. Her goal was followed up by goals from Lindsay Strouse and Natasha Martin before she scored again with two minutes left in the half.
Corbett, who assisted on Purdy’s second goal, added two of her own after halftime, both unassisted.
Bigfork (1-2-0, 1-5-0) had nine shots on frame but was unable to get past either Columbia Falls goalkeeper.
“We got a lot of players in,” Columbia Falls coach Greg Trenerry said. “It was great to get everybody in and still manage to play well.”
Columbia Falls hosts Whitefish on Thursday. Bigfork hosts the Bulldogs on Saturday in its next game.
Bigfork 0 0 — 0
Columbia Falls 4 2 — 6
CF — Haley Purdy (Lindsay Strouse) 3’
CF — Strouse (unassisted) 23’
CF — Natasha Martin (unassisted) 35’
CF — Purdy (Alexi Corbett) 38’
CF — Corbett (unassisted) 50’
CF — Corbett (unassisted) 78’
Shots on goal — CF 21, BF 9. Saves — CF 9 (Andrea Getts 3, Ally Gimbel 6), BF 8 (Celeste Rehbein). Corner kicks — CF 3, BF 0. Fouls — CF 4, BF 0. Cards — none.
Flathead 2, Missoula Sentinel 2
MISSOULA — Paige Birky scored twice on assists from Joey Thiel to help Flathead draw with Missoula Sentinel.
Flathead (2-2-1) trailed 1-0 at halftime but Birky put the Bravettes on the board in the 47th minute. Emma Caldwell gave Sentinel (2-1-1) another lead in the 56th minute but Birky answered 12 minutes later with her second goal.
“Paige Birky really carried her team today,” Flathead coach Cory Wilson said. “She was not going to be denied when she had an opportunity to knot the game up.
“We had a lot of injuries occur in this game, so we had kids that were playing in different positions, and they all showed great resiliency in adapting to those positions. Our defense played really stout. Both goals came from outside, so in spite of giving up two goals, our defense played with a lot of composure.”
Flathead 0 2 — 2
Sentinel 1 1 — 2
S - Jill Madsen (assist Claire Danicich), 38:00
F - Paige Birky (Joey Thiel), 47:00
S - Emma Caldwell (Anna Melugin), 56:00
F - Birky (Thiel), 68:00
Shots - Flathead 4, Sentinel 16. Saves - Flathead 8 (Zoe Zander), Sentinel 1 (Jessica Henning). Corner kicks - Flathead 0, Sentinel 3. Fouls - Flathead 5, Sentinel 6. Yellow cards - none. Red cards - none.
BOYS
Bigfork 3, Columbia Falls 0
COLUMBIA FALLS — Bigfork played strong defense and picked up a trio of goals on the counter attack, beating Columbia Falls in a Northwestern A conference match.
Tyler Zavala scored the first two for the Vikings (2-0-1 Northwestern A, 2-2-2 overall), the first on an assist from Jorge Zavala in the 21st minute and the second after halftime from Robert Coyle in the 62nd minute. Jorge added an unassisted insurance goal in the 71st minute.
Columbia Falls (0-1-0, 2-3-0) controlled time of possession and outshot Bigfork 14-8, getting five corner kick opportunities, but was unable to crack through the Viking defense.
The Wildcats host Whitefish on Thursday. Bigfork will host the Bulldogs on Saturday.
Bigfork 1 2 — 3
Columbia Falls 0 0 — 0
B — Tyler Zavala (Jorge Zavala) 21’
B — T. Zavala (Robert Coyle) 62’
B — J. Zavala (unassisted) 71’
Shots on goal — BF 8, CF 14. Saves — BF 8 (Dillon Hilling), CF 5 (Mason Gedleman). Corner kicks — BF 2, CF 5. Fouls — BF 6, CF 3. Cards — none.
Missoula Sentinel 3, Flathead 2
MISSOULA — Caleb Buxton pulled the Braves within one goal with a 74th-minute strike, but Flathead (0-4-1) was unable to come up with an equalizer in the final six minutes.
Sentinel (2-2) took a 2-1 lead on Todd Thayer’s goal in the 20th minute and Dylan Leadbetter extended the Spartans’ advantage to 3-1 in the 50th minute.
Haaken Sande had Flathead’s first goal in the 11th minute.
Flathead 1 1 — 2
Sentinel 2 1 — 3
S – Adam Mickelson (penalty kick), 1:00
F – Haaken Sande, 11:00
S – Todd Thayer (assist Liam Foster), 20:00
S – Dylan Leadbetter (Thayer), 50:00
F – Caleb Buxton, 74:00
Shots on goal – Flathead 9, Sentinel 15. Corner kicks – Flathead 3, Sentinel 5. Saves – Flathead (Chandler Escalante 4), Sentinel (Kai Block 5). Fouls – Flathead 14, Sentinel 14. Yellow cards – Sentinel 1. Red cards – none.