Soccer roundup: Bigfork edges Whitefish, Polson routs Columbia Falls
BIGFORK — Bigfork goalkeeper Ben Russell made 14 saves to preserve a narrow 2-1 Northern A conference victory for the Vikings against Whitefish on Tuesday.
Kalvin Eaton poked in a deflected ball to score the game-winning goal just 30 seconds after the halftime break, marking a quick turnaround for the Vikings. Bigfork tied the score at 1-1 shortly before halftime on a goal from Christian Bencomo.
Whitefish, which outshot Bigfork 15-7 in the contest and had 13 corner kicks, opened the scoring on a penalty kick from Walter Sobba but couldn’t find the net for the remainder of the game thanks to a top performance from Russell.
Bigfork 2, Whitefish 1
Whitefish 1 0 — 1
Bigfork 1 1 — 1
W— Walter Sobba (penalty kick), 12’
B— Christian Bencomo, 36’
B— Kalvin Eaton, 41’
Shots on Goal—Whitefish 15. Bigfork 7. Keeper saves—Whitefish 5 (Marty Anderson), Bigfork 14 (Ben Russell). Corner kicks—Whitefish 13, Bigfork 5. Fouls—Whitefish 10, Bigfork 10. Cards— Yellow, Bigfork 1.
Polson 6, Columbia Falls 0
POLSON — Polson scored five goals in 12 minutes late in the second half to run away with a Northern A conference victory over Columbia Falls.
Alex Encizo opened the scoring in the 11th minute for the Pirates, but it wasn’t until midway through the second half that Polson would add an insurance tally, as Encizo found Mike Mercer for the game’s second goal in the 62nd minute.
The floodgates opened soon after, with goals from Connor Lanier and Jaben Wenzel in the next seven minutes. Mike Vergeront capped the scoring with a pair of goals in the 72nd and 74th minutes.
Polson outshot Columbia Falls 14-2.
Columbia Falls 0 0 — 0
Polson 1 5 — 6
P— Alex Encizo (Andrew Hanson), 11’
P— Mike Mercer (Encizo), 62’
P— Connor Lanier (Mack Moderie), 66’
P— Jaben Wenzel, 69’
P— Mike Vergeront (Moderie), 72’
P— Vergeront (Danny DiGiallonardo), 74’
Shots on Goal—Columbia Falls 2, Polson 14. Keeper saves—Columbia Falls 8, Polson 2. Corner kicks—Columbia Falls 3, Polson 3. Fouls—Columbia Falls 5, Polson 15. Cards—Columbia Falls 2, Polson 4.
Stillwater 5, Stevensville 1
Stillwater Christian scored two quick goals in the first half and added three more after the break to rout Stevensville in a nonconference game.
Hansen Eystad scored in the seventh minute to give the Cougars an early lead and BJ Bach scored his first of two goals midway through the half to pad the advantage. Bach, Darren Kauffman and Micah Friesen all scored in the second half to ice the game.
Stillwater outshot Stevi 10-3 despite getting only four corner kicks to the Yellowjackets’ 7.
Stevensville 1 0 — 1
Stillwater 2 3 — 5
SCS— Hansen Eystad (Jesse Willis), 7’
SCS— BJ Bach, 31’
Stevi— Camilo Aguierra, 33’
SCS— Bach (Isaac Neumann), 42’
SCS— Darren Kauffman (Eystad), 45’
SCS— Micah Friesen (Bach), 80’
Shots on Goal— Stevi 3, SCS 10. Keeper saves — SCS 2 (Daniel Fetveit), Stevi 5 (Tristan Pearson). Corner kicks — Stevi 7, SCS 4. Fouls — Stevi 2, SCS 6. Cards — Yellow, Stevi 1.
GIRLS
Whitefish 6, Bigfork 0
BIGFORK — Anna Peterson scored in the first five minutes and Haley Nicholson scored a second-half hat trick to lead Whitefish to a rout of Bigfork in a Northern A conference match.
Peterson scored on an assist from Blankenship in the game’s opening minutes to earn an early advantage for the Bulldogs. Blankenship would score her own unassisted later in the half.
Nicholson broke free from the wing in the second half and scored her first goal in the 46th minute before assisting Julia Houston on another in the 57th minute. Nicholson scored goals in the 67th and 77th minutes to complete the hat trick, the last coming off a punt over the defense from Whitefish goalkeeper Kess Nelson.
Whitefish 2 4 — 6
Bigfork 0 0 — 0
W— Anna Peterson (Katie Blankenship), 5’
W— Blankenship, 39’
W— Haley Nicholson (Melissa Pollard), 46’
W— Julia Houston (Nicholson), 57’
W— Nicholson, 67’
W— Nicholson (Kess Nelson), 77’
Shots on Goal— Whitefish 8, Bigfork 6. Keeper Saves— Whitefish 6 (Kess Nelson), Bigfork 4 (Celeste Rehbein). Corner kicks—Whitefish 4, Bigfork 2. Fouls—Whitefish 9, Bigfork 6. Cards— Yellow, Bigfork 1.
Polson 2,
Columbia Falls 1
POLSON — Polson built a two-goal lead midway through the second half and held on to beat Columbia Falls in a Northern A conference game.
Hannah Kasnitz scored on an assist from JaNessa Taylor to kick Polson off to a lead just before halftime. Tiara Duford added another in the 60th minute to give the Pirates some breathing room entering the final 20 minutes.
Sydney Grilley scored in the 67th minute to put Columbia Falls on the board, but the Wildkats failed to punch in another in the final 13 minutes of play.
Columbia Falls had 20 shots on goal to Polson’s 14 and the Pirates had two corner kicks to the Wildkats one.
Columbia Falls 0 1 — 1
Polson 1 1 — 2
P— Hannah Kasnitz (JaNessa Taylor), 36’
P— Tiara Duford, 60’
C— Sydney Grilley, 67’
Shots on goal – C. Falls 20, Polson 14. Saves – C. Falls 5 (Allyson Gimbel), Polson 13 (Jenna Evertz). Corner kicks – C. Falls 1, Polson 2. Total fouls – C. Falls 0, Polson 9 Cards – None.
Stevensville 3,
Stillwater 2
Stillwater took a 2-0 advantage into halftime only to see Stevensville take the lead with three goals in the first 20 minutes of the second half to sneak away with a nonconference win.
The Cougars picked up goals from Sheyanne Colom and Serena Koch in the first half, but came out flat to start the second.
Ember Kleen headed in a direct kick to put Stevi on the board and Allie Emery was unmarked on a cross from Megan Pendergast to even the score in the 46th minute. Barely 10 minutes later, the Yellowjackets took the lead for good when Jenna Cardenas buried a penalty kick awarded after a Stillwater hand ball in the box, netting the game-winning goal.
Stevensville outshot the Cougars 23-10 in the game.
Stevensville 0 3 — 3
Stillwater 2 0 — 2
SCS—Sheyanne Colom (Kate Martin), 19’
SCS—Serena Koch, 34’
Stevi—Ember Kleen (Jenna Cardenas), 44’
Stevi—Allie Emery (Megan Pendergast), 46’
Stevi—Jenna Cardenas (PK), 57’
Shots on Goal—Stevi 23, SCS 10. Keeper saves—Stevi 2, SCS 11. Corner kicks—Stevi 3, SCS 3. Fouls—n/a. Cards—none.