Boys soccer: Ling's foot lifts Bulldogs over Hamilton
<p>Whitefish players surround Casey Ling as they celebrate their wild victory against Hamilton in the Class A soccer quarterfinals in Whitefish on Saturday at Smith Fields. Ling scored two goals in the final two minutes. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Whitefish goalkeeper Marty Anderson breathes a sigh of relief on the sidelines after the Bulldogs scored two goals in the final two minutes to beat Hamilton 4-3 on Saturday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
<p>Whitefish's Taven Edland heads the ball away from Hamilton's Aidan Carmody in the final minutes of play Saturday at Smith Fields in Whitefish. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)</p>
WHITEFISH — The Whitefish Bulldogs finally got their hero.
Trailing 3-1 in the second half of their opening round playoff game against the Hamilton Broncs, junior forward Casey Ling scored three goals, including two in the final minutes of play to lead the Bulldogs to a wild 4-3 victory, advancing Whitefish to the semifinals of the MHSA Class A state soccer tournament.
After a miraculous goal on a waist-high volley off a deflection near the top of the box that tied that game at three, Ling took a corner kick with minutes left on the referee’s watch. The slight bend of his kick went through the leaping players from each team and curled into the far corner of the net without a deflection.
“I had to keep the game going. I was closest to the corner so I mobbed over there, set the ball up and was waiting for everyone to get ready,” Ling said of his last-minute heroics.
“Walter (Sobba) gave me the thumbs up. I looked at him, put my hand up and put it in (play). I thought, ‘Oh, that’s a terrible cross,’ and then it just went right into the goal.”
The Broncs, as well as the crowd at Smith Fields, were in disbelief as the Bulldogs capped off and amazing comeback where they outshot Hamilton 23-2.
Hamilton consistently had nine players behind the ball, a stifling defense that wasn’t concerned with scoring chances after two early goals from senior midfielder David Feldman.
“Hamilton caught us a little bit off guard to be honest,” Whitefish coach O’Brien Byrd said.
“We played them earlier in the season and they went at us. I was expecting a team that was going to play possession soccer against us. They did something I didn’t think they would do and totally bunkered in and made it frustrating for us.
“The guys never gave up. They never stopped fighting. They went down 3-1 and a lot of teams pack it up — the pressure is too much. With so many seniors on our squad, cheering everybody on, spurring them on, I’m immensely proud that this team, truly, will never give up.”
The Broncs’ first score was answered by Bulldogs’ senior midfielder Jared Johnson in the 17th minute, but that’s all Whitefish would muster on plenty of first-half opportunities.
Hamilton’s counter attack, gaining possession of the ball and launching deep passes to their lone forward Kyle Crossman, gave the Broncs several scoring opportunities, and Crossman converted one of them four minutes into the second half, giving Hamilton a two-score lead.
The resilient Bulldogs chipped away at Hamilton’s lead, setting up the stage for Ling’s hat trick.
“This is going to be big momentum going into the semifinal game,” Byrd said.
“We had so many opportunities for heroes in the game — so many chances, so many shots right to the keeper. If you’re going to be a hero it might as well be a spectacular moment. We talked about being a hero all week and Casey Ling was certainly that. He saved us.”
Whitefish is one win away from yet another appearance in the Class A state title game. They will travel to play Belgrade on Saturday
Hamilton 2 1 — 3
Whitefish 1 3 — 4
H — David Feldmann (Riley Della Silvia) 13:00
W — Jared Johnson (Taven Edland) 17:00
H — Feldmann (unassisted) 21:00
H — Kyle Crossman (unassisted) 44:00
W — Casey Ling (Sam Heutmaker) 51:00
W — Ling (unassisted) 78:00
W — Ling (unassisted) 79:00
Shots on goal — Hamilton 2, Whitefish 23. Saves — Hamilton 23 (Casey Ryter), Whitefish 2 (Marty Anderson). Corners — Hamilton 0, Whitefish 12. Fouls — Hamilton 5, Whitefish 4. Cards — none.
Corvallis 4, Libby 2
CORVALLIS — The Corvallis Blue Devils extended their 2-0 halftime lead into a victory over the Libby Loggers.
Libby’s Cody Wood got the Loggers on the board in the 51st minute on an assist from Walter Briones. Wood’s second goal came with four minutes left in the match.
Libby goalkeeper finished with Zander Petersen nine saves.
The Blue Devils will face Bigfork on Saturday.
Libby 0 2 — 2
Corvallis 2 2 — 4
C — Alejandro Ortiz (Emmett Semple), 24:00
C — Ortiz (Kyle Schifflett), 27:00
L — Cody Wood (Walter Briones), 51:00
C — Cayden Ayers (Ortiz), 61:00
C — Semple (Ayers), 70:00
L — Wood, 86:00
Shots on goal — Libby 9, Corvallis 26. Saves — Libby 10 (Zander Petersen 9, Johnny Cielak1), Corvallis 6 (Shelby Gifford). Corner kicks — Libby 0, Corvallis 5. Total fouls — Libby 4, Corvallis 4. Cards — none.
Belgrade 1,
Stevensville 0
BELGRADE — Jeffery DeBuse’s goal in the 68th minute was the only finish of the match as the Belgrade Panthers advance with a victory over Stevensville.
Justin McGowen assisted DeBuse’s goal and Belgrade keeper Clay Bost made six saves.
The Panthers will host Whitefish in the semifinals.
Stevensville 0 0 — 0
Belgrade 0 1 — 1
Bel — Jeffrey DeBuse (Justin McGowen) 68:00
Shots — Ste 15, Bel 12. Saves — Ste 1 (Bronson Jensen), Bel 6 (Clay Bost). Corner kicks — Ste 4, Bel 5. Fouls — Ste 13, Bel 4. Cards — none. Cards: none.
Bigfork 2, Livingston 1
LIVINGSTON — The Bigfork Vikings are on to the state semifinals after defeating Livingston.
Kyle Thompson’s goal in the 49th minute broke a 1-1 tie.
Thompson scored the first goal of the match nine minutes in to take a 1-0 lead.
Bigfork conceded an own goal, and Livingston caught a break in the 30th minute to go into the half with an even score.
The Vikings will host Corvallis on Saturday.
Bigfork 1 1 — 2
Livingston 1 0 — 1
B — Kyle Thompson, 9:00
L — Bigfork own goal, 30:00
B — Thompson), 49:00
No other stats available