SOCCER: Stillwater Christian advances to MCAA semifinals

BOZEMAN — The Stillwater Christian soccer team made easy work of the first round of the Montana Christian Athletic Association state soccer tournament, beating Billings Christian 5-0 on the opening day of competition on Thursday.

The Cougars posted the only shutout of the first round to set up a semifinal game against Helena Christian a 5 p.m. Friday. Helena Christian beat Foothills Christian of Great Falls 3-1 in its opener.

Defending state champion Heritage Christian, the host school for the tournament, also made an emphatic statement in the first round, beating Great Falls Homeschool 10-1. Heritage will play Foothills at 3 p.m. today in the semifinals, Foothills winning a consolation round robin later in the day to advance back into the championship bracket.

Foothills beat Great Falls Homeschool 2-0 and Billings Christian 1-0 in the round robin. Great Falls Homeschool beat Billings Christian 5-1 in the day’s only other game to set up another meeting between the sides in a consolation game at 1 p.m. Friday.

The tournament concludes on Saturday afternoon.