Whitefish wipes out Bigfork
Whitefish captain Lexie Carbo stops the ball in front of Bigfork midfielder Kaitlyn Reese during the first half in Bigfork on Tuesday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)
Whitefish forward Ammann Koch-Forde stretches for a ball during the Bulldogs' 10-1 win over the Vikings in Bigfork on Tuesday. (Aaric Bryan/Daily Inter Lake)
BIGFORK — Whitefish sophomore Anna Cook scored three goals, all of them in the second half, to lead the Whitefish girls soccer team to a 6-1 win over Bigfork in its season opener on Tuesday afternoon.
Cook’s hat trick keyed a second-half onslaught that provided the Bulldogs ample breathing room after they held a one-goal lead at the half.
“We had 11,12 shots in the first half. I think we were just a little excited to shoot and wanted to score so badly that we rushed it and didn’t stay true to our game plan,” Whitefish head coach Roland Benedict said.
“In the second half, we found a bit more composure and were able to not only control the ball, but the tempo of the game.”
Cook kicked off the second-half scoring in the 42nd minute, and Pixie Moore quickly followed with another in the 44th minute.
Cook added two more in the 56th and 77th minutes, respectively, before Olivia Pothoff capped the scoring in the 78th minute.
“We put her in spots where the team can take advantage of her abilities and she can score goals for us,” Benedict said of Cook, who contributed last year as a freshman.
Josephine Brown put Whitefish on the scoreboard with a first-half goal in the 30th minute. Audrey Hyatt had two assists.
The Bulldogs travels to Livingston to face Park High School at 3 p.m. on Friday. Bigfork returns to action at 2 p.m. on Thursday with a home game against Columbia Falls.
Whitefish 1 5 — 6
Bigfork 0 0 — 0
W — Josephine Brown (Lexie Carbo), 30:00
W — Anna Cook (Grace Benkelman), 42:00
W — Pixie Moore (Audrey Hyatt), 44:00
W — Anna Cook (Audrey Hyatt), 56:00
W — Anna Cook, 77:00
W — Olivia Pothoff (Abigail Shaffer), 78:00
Total shots — Whitefish 31, Bigfork 1; Corner kicks — Whitefish 6, Bigfork 3; Goalie saves — Whitefish 1 (Sami Galbraith), Bigfork 15 (Ellie Bereth); Fouls — Bigfork 3, Whitefish 6; Cards — none
BOYS
Whitefish 10, Bigfork 1
BIGFORK — The Whitefish boys soccer team poured on the offense in its first game of the season, blowing out Bigfork 10-1.
Sam Menicke, Casey Schneider and Xander Burger all scored two goals and Noah Romanguolo had a goal and two assists for Whitefish in the win. Other goal scorers for the Bulldogs were Carson White, Leo Motti and Eli Joos, with Joos also adding an assist to the tally.
“We moved the ball pretty well,” Bulldogs boys coach John Lacey said. “Definitely good to get kinks the out.”
Bigfork scored its first goal in two years in the loss, with Kyle Cumming adding a penalty kick to get the Vikings on the board in the 73rd minute. Bigfork forfeited its season in 2016 because of low turnout.
Whitefish 10, Bigfork 1
Whitefish 4 6 — 10
Bigfork 0 1 — 1
W—Xander Burger (Noah Romagnuolo), 2’
W—Sam Menicke (Eli Joos), 3’
W—Romangnuolo, 5’
W—Carson White, 25’
W—Menicke (Tait Workman), 42’
W—Casey Schneider, 45’
W—Burger (Romangnuolo), 46’
W—Schneider (Joos), 46’
W—Joos (Avery Hirsch), 47’
W—Leo Motti, 51’
B—Kyle Cumming (penalty kick), 73’
Shots on Goal—W 24, B 1. Keeper Saves—W 0, B 16. Corner Kicks—W 4, B 2. Fouls—W 11, B 3. Cards—none.