Soccer: Whitefish, Stillwater boys romp in openers
WHITEFISH — Whitefish opened the Class A soccer season Friday afternoon at smoky Smith Fields by splitting with Hamilton.
The boys posted a shutout while the girls came up two-goals short.
It was the season opener for both schools.
Whitefish is back in action Thursday hosting Libby.
Boys
Whitefish 4, Hamilton 0
Taisuke Matsuo scored the first goal and assisted on the last one as the Bulldogs rolled.
“Marty Anderson, our goalie, had a great game,” Whitefish coach John Lacey said.
“He saved a penalty kick in the first half when the game was zero-zero.”
Lacey said the team also received “great play” from senior centerbacks Ben Hirsch and Sam Benkelman.
“The second half, we came out and played good, smart soccer,” Lacey said.
Also scoring goals for Whitefish were Cody Brandt, Noah Romagnuolo and Casey Ling.
Hamilton 0 0 — 0
Whitefish 1 3 — 4
Scoring times not available
Whitefish — Taisuke Matsuo (Xander Burger)
Whitefish — Cody Brandt (Walter Sobba)
Whitefish — Noah Romagnuolo (Quinten Joos)
Whitefish — Casey Ling (Matsuo)
Shots on goal — Hamilton 2, Whitefish 11; Goalie saves — Hamilton 7 (James Bess), Whitefish 2 (Marty Anderson); Corner kicks — Hamilton 2, Whitefish 2; Fouls — Hamilton 5, Whitefish 3; Cards — Whitefish, 1 yellow
Girls
Hamilton 3, Whitefish 1
Hamilton scored two goals in a span of five minutes late in the first half and added another early in the second half to knock off Whitefish.
“Hamilton came out and pressed hard early on, pretty much the whole first half,” Whitefish coach Roland Benedict said.
“We couldn’t complete a pass the first half. Second half, we gained control, started pressing. We had two goals called back for offsides.”
Emily Buckmaster scored for Whitefish in the 83rd minute.
Hamilton 2 1 — 3
Whitefish 0 1 — 1
Hamilton — Olivia Zepeda, 33:00
Hamilton — Reilley Rostad (Zepeda), 38:00
Hamilton — Rostad, 50:00
Whitefish — Emily Buckmaster (Haley Nicholson), 83:00
Shots on goal — Hamilton 12, Whitefish 11; Goalie saves — Hamilton 7 (Daylie Duce), Whitefish 9 (Kess Nelson); Corner kicks — NA; Fouls — Hamilton 7, Whitefish 12; Cards — None.
Boys
Stillwater Christian 9, Priest River 0
PRIEST RIVER, Idaho — BJ Bach scored two goals and assisted on five others to power Stillwater Christian to a season-opening victory.
Hansen Eystad scored four goals to power the attack. Errin Kauffman, Caleb Reeves and Isaac Neumann had one goal each.
“It was a very good first game for us,” Stillwater coach Ryan O’Rourke said.
“It gave us a good idea on what we want to do for positions on the field and running our formations a little bit better.”
Stillwater is back in action today at noon at Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
Stillwater Christian 4 5 — 9
Priest River 0 0 — 0
Stillwater — Hansen Eystad (Isaac Neumann), 3:00
Stillwater — Errin Kauffman (BJ Bach), 14:00
Stillwater — Eystad (Bach), 39:00
Stillwater — Bach (Caleb Reeves), 41:00
Stillwater — Eystad, 47:00
Stillwater — Reeves (Bach), 48:00
Stillwater — Bach (Reeves), 50:00
Stillwater — Neumann (Bach), 56:00
Stillwater — Eystad (Bach), 74:00
Shots on goal — Stillwater 16, Priest River 1; Goalie saves — Stillwater 1 (Daniel Fetveit), Priest River 7 (NA); Corner kicks — Stillwater 5, Priest River 2; Fouls — Stillwater 6, Priest River 0; Cards — None.