State lacrosse: Flathead to play for bronze

WHITEFISH — The Flathead lacrosse club high school boys team played its way into the bronze match at the Montana Lacrosse Association state tournament at Smith Fields on Saturday.

Flathead (5-5) topped 10 Sticks (5-6), of Polson and Lake County, 11-1 in its opening match of the tournament, jumping on the visiting squad early to take a commanding 7-0 halftime lead.

“We played this team at the beginning of the season, they gave us our first loss of the year,” Flathead coach Matt Rizzolo said.

“We just wanted to play our game. Our players know we have good systems in place. Our game is a settled offense and a settled defense. We want to get the ball down there and control everything, let our offense do the work. We did that in the first and second quarter.”

Flathead extended the lead early in the third quarter, when Columbia Falls junior Henry Chisholm caught a pass at the side of the net and curled to the top of the crease to shoot past the 10 Sticks keeper. Less than a minute later, Whitefish sophomore Ethan Lanahan rang a shot off the post only for the rebound to bounce directly to teammate David Rizzolo, who netted the easy goal to give Flathead a 9-0 lead.

Whitefish sophomore Jack Blair scored his fourth goal of the game five minutes into the fourth quarter and junior James Baily sniped a goal in transition with 7:51 to play to cap the scoring for Flathead.

In the fourth, 10 Sticks had its chances to narrow the score but couldn’t find the net on its attempts. The attempts that were on target were stonewalled by Flathead goaltender Hayden Eaton, a first-year senior who struggled in the first meeting against the Lake County squad.

With four minutes to play, 10 Sticks finally broke through, Ambrose Brown scoring on a pass from Zack Schmidt to prevent the shutout.

Flathead lost its semifinal match against top-seeded Missoula Hellgate 18-1, and will play Bozeman in the third-place game today. The Hawks lost to Helena 12-9.

The bronze match will begin at 10 a.m. at Smith Fields with the championship to follow at 12:30 p.m.

Kalispell’s U-15 boys team defeated Missoula 10-9 in sudden death overtime to advance to this morning’s championship game at 9 a.m. against Bozeman.

The Kalispell Green U-13 team advanced to the championship at 11 a.m. against Billings with a 7-0 win over Flathead Blue and an 11-3 win against Bozeman White. Kalispell White U-13 lost to Bozeman Red 4-3 in the first round.

The Flathead girls high school team is in the bronze match against Hellgate after a 15-5 loss to Bozeman in the first round.

Montana Lacrosse Association

State Tournament

Saturday

Smith Fields, Whitefish

BOYS

High School

First Round

Hellgate 19, Sentinel 0; Flathead 11, 10 Sticks (Polson) 1; Helena 12, Billings West 9; Bozeman 7, Big Sky 6.

Semifinals

Hellgate 18, Flathead 1; Helena 12, Bozeman 9.

U15

Semifinals

Bozeman 13, Billings 2; Kalispell 10, Missoula 9.

Bronze match

Missoula 14, Billings 4

U13

Grouse Fields

First Round

Kalispell Green 7, Flathead Blue 0; Bozeman White 2, Helena 1; Bozeman Red 4, Kalispell White 3; Billings 9, Missoula 0.

Semifinals

Kalispell Green 11, Bozeman White 3; Billings 3, Bozeman Red 2.

GIRLS

High School

Semifinals

Bozeman 15, Flathead 5; Big Sky 9, Hellgate 7.

U15

First Round

Missoula 15, Helena 9; Bozeman 6, Missoula 5.