SOCCER ROUNDUP: Whitefish girls nip Wildkats; Glacier boys blast Big Sky
COLUMBIA FALLS — Haley Nicholson and Melissa Pollard scored second half goals to keep Whitefish atop the Northern A conference with a 2-1 girls soccer victory over Columbia Falls on Thursday afternoon at Flip Darling Field.
The Bulldogs (8-2-0, 6-0-0 Northern A) have won five straight matches.
“We didn’t dominate, but we had control of the game,” Whitefish coach Roland Benedict said.
“We were comfortable with our play, maintaining possession.”
Nicholson broke a scoreless draw in the 52nd minute when she put home a free kick from just outside the 18-yard box. It was the senior’s 21st goal of the season.
Pollard scored eight minutes later to give the visitors a two-goal cushion.
Hannah Gedlaman scored off a Kendra King assist in the 78th minute to keep the Wildkats (5-4-0, 2-3-0) alive, but the hosts could not find the equalizer.
“We had a couple we should have finished but give Whitefish credit, they played hard and they finished their opportunities,” Columbia Falls coach Greg Trenerry said.
“They’re close, they know they’re right there, they just have to finish.”
Columbia Falls had 11 shots on frame to eight for Whitefish. There were 29 fouls whistled in the match, 16 against the Bulldogs.
Julia Houston, a sophomore holding midfielder, had a superb performance on her birthday, according to Benedict.
“She held the ball for us, never made a mistake and kept our rhythm in our style of play,” he said.
“She was calm and together. She was pivotal for us today.”
Whitefish edged Columbia Falls 3-2 in the first meeting this fall.
“Last time they got up two goals on us,” Benedict said.
“They put it to us and we were not ready for their style of play. We were able to comeback, score three goals and get the win.”
Columbia Falls plays at Polson on Saturday.
Whitefish 0 2 — 2
Columbia Falls 0 1 — 1
WF — Haley Nicholson (free kick), 52:00
WF — Melissa Pollard (Nicholson), 60:00
CF — Hannah Gedlaman (Kendra King), 78:00
Shots on goal — Whitefish 8, Columbia Falls 11. Saves — Whitefish 10 (Kess Nelson), Columbia Falls 6 (Madeline Jarvis). Corner kicks — Whitefish 2, Columbia Falls 6. Fouls — Whitefish 16, Columbia Falls 13. Cards — None.
Polson 5, Bigfork 0
POLSON — Tiara Duford closed the scoring in the first half and opened with a goal in the second half as Polson shut out Bigfork in a Northern A match.
Olivia Hewston, Ashlee Howell and Amber Clarke had the other goals for Polson.
“We’re pushing on and feeling pretty good,” Polson coach Michael Hewston said.
Polson (7-2, 4-1) outshot Bigfork 20-9 on goal and led in corner kicks 10-3.
Polson hosts Columbia Falls on Saturday.
Bigfork 0 0 — 0
Polson 3 2 — 5
P — Oliva Hewston, direct kick, 23:00
P — Ashlee Howell (Marina Mayorga), 38:00
P — Tiara Duford, 38:00
P —Duford (Hannah Kasnitz). 43:00
P — Amber Clarke (Howell), 77:00
Shots on goal — Bigfork 9, Polson 20. Saves — Bigfork 13 (Celeste Rehbein), Polson 9 (Jenna Evertz). Corner kicks — Bigfork 3, Polson 10. Fouls — Bigfork 3, Polson 8. Cards — None.
Missoula Big Sky 5, Glacier 0
MISSOULA — Whitney Morrison scored a goal in each half as Missoula Big Sky blanked Glacier in a Western AA matchup.
Big Sky led 2-0 at intermission.
The Eagles outshot Glacier on goal 15-6. Maddie Armstrong had 10 keeper saves for Glacier.
Glacier hosts Helena High next Friday and Helena Capital next Saturday.
Glacier 0 0 — 0
Big Sky 2 3 — 5
MBS – Cheyenne Cathey (assist TiLynn McGreevey), 34:00
MBS – Whitney Morrison, Cassidy Pierce, 41:00
MBS – Hannah Santamaria, Emma Scheuch, 46:00
MBS – Gianna Migliaccio, Morrison, 67:00
MBS – Morrison, Santamaria, 68:00
Shots on goal – Glacier 6, Big Sky 15. Saves – Glacier 10 (Maddie Armstrong), Big Sky 6 (Chelsea Todd). Corner kicks – Glacier 2, Big Sky 3. Fouls – Glacier 1, Big Sky 6. Cards – None.
BOYS
Glacier 4, Big Sky 0
MISSOULA — Glacier scored three goals in the span of 11 minutes early in the second half to pull away from Missoula Big Sky in a Western AA match.
Conner Heil had goals at 44 and 55 minutes and Brady Schultz scored at 50 minutes. Ryan Symmes assisted on two of the second-half goals.
Tyler Keller scored 24 minutes into play to give Glacier a 1-0 lead at the half.
Glacier (4-5-1, 3-4-1) beat Big Sky earlier 1-0.
“They came out the first five, 10, 15 minutes of play (in the second half) and took over the run of play,” Glacier coach Ryan Billiet said of his players.
“Our backup keeper (Logan Hill) stepped in and our backline played well, played composed,” Billiet said.
Glacier hosts Helena High next Friday and Helena Capital next Saturday.
Glacier 1 3 — 4
Big Sky 0 0 — 0
G — Tyler Keller (Rohit Tappeta), 24:00
G — Conner Heil (Ryan Symmes), 44:00
G — Brady Schultz (Symmes), 50:00
G — Heil (Parker Bedard), 55:00
Shots on goal — Glacier 16, Big Sky 2. Saves — Glacier 2 (Logan Hill), Big Sky 10 (NA). Corner kicks — Glacier 6, Big Sky 2. Fouls — NA. Cards — None.
Columbia Falls 2, Whitefish 0
COLUMBIA FALLS — Late goals by Jon Sigurdsson and Logan Stephens allowed Columbia Falls to slip by Whitefish in a Northern A matchup at Flip Darling Field under the lights.
The scores for Columbia Falls (8-1-1, 4-0) came at 60 and 65 minutes.
“Big crowd, senior night, homecoming week,” Columbia Falls coach O’Brien Byrd said. “Given the atmosphere, the guys handled themselves with a lot of focus. We stuck to the game plan.”
Whitefish 0 0 — 0
Columbia Falls 0 2 — 2
CF — Jon Sigurdsson (Jakob Grein), 60:00
CF — Logan Stephens (Sigurdsson), 65:00
Shots on goal — Whitefish 3, Columbia Falls 14. Saves — Whitefish 14 (Marty Anderson), Columbia Falls 3 (Brandon Karberg) . Corner kicks — Whitefish 3, Columbia Falls 7. Fouls — Whitefish 5, Columbia Falls 8. Cards — Columbia Falls, 1 yellow.