Lowry header puts Whitefish over the top
From left, Whitefish's Emma Barron (11), Brooke Roberts (8), Adrienne Healy (16) and Olivia Genovese (3) celebrate after Roberts' first-half goal against Columbia Falls at Smith Fields on Saturday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Whitefish's Adrienne Healy (16) works the ball upfield against Columbia Falls' Aletheia Fisher (3) in the first half at Smith Fields on Saturday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Columbia Falls' Maddie Robison (7) pushes the ball upfield against Whitefish's Anna Akey (15) in the second half at Smith Fields on Saturday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Columbia Falls' Cheyanne Johnston-Heinz (8) and Whitefish's Maya Lacey (13) battle for possession in the second half at Smith Fields on Saturday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Whitefish's Brooke Roberts (8) scores a goal in the first half against Columbia Falls at Smith Fields on Saturday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Columbia Falls teammates celebrate with Cheyanne Johnston-Heinz (8), right, after her second-half goal against Whitefish at Smith Fields on Saturday. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
WHITEFISH — Lucy Lowry saved the day for the Whitefish Bulldogs Saturday at Smith Fields with her stoppage time goal that gave Whitefish a 3-2 win over Northwest A rival Columbia Falls.
Brooke Roberts scored Whitefish’s first goal three minutes in. Columbia Falls put the pressure on, and Maddie Robison tied it in the 35th minute with her 20th goal of the season, a top shelf stunner that made it 1-1.
Emma Barron answered five minutes later to give Whitefish a 2-1 lead going into the half off a direct kick from a corner that snuck by a Wildkat defender at the near post.
“The worst thing that happened is that we scored two minutes in and it was kind of like, oh, okay, this is what it’s going to be,” Whitefish coach Roland Benedict said. “And we just started coasting and they started pressing us and winning balls and trying to be a little greedy in our buildup. So it’s a little bit of them having a good game plan and being prepared and us not reading it and trying to play too fast.”
Cheyenne Johnston-Heinz got ahead of the Whitefish defense for a tying goal at 78 minutes.
“Obviously a ton of emotion when we tied the game with Cheyenne,” Columbia Falls coach Thomas Clark said. “That was a great goal.”
Whitefish won the teams’ first game 4-0 on Sept. 15. This time Columbia Falls came prepared for the 2020 state runner-up team.
“I think anytime you can go down to the wire with a team that was in the state final last year, it’s good stuff,” Clark said. “It’s a good game. Both teams put on a show and for us, you know, we worked on the blueprint of how to play against them.”
Lowry found the back of the net off a pass from Barron with a header in stoppage time.
“We’ve got girls that can win the ball in the air and we haven’t done it,” Benedict said. “And senior captain, Lucy Lowry steps up and scores a big header. Just massive, you know? And that’s how this team is different from last year to this year is we stay and fight to the end and know how to win games.”
Norah Schmidt had nine saves for Whitefish (10-0, 6-0), and Zoey Byrd had five for the Wildcats (7-2, 4-2.)
“Norah played unbelievable,” Benedict said. She’s got saves that, unfortunately, people don’t get to see a lot, but the saves she made today, not many goalkeepers have that athleticism to make those things.”
Columbia Falls 1 1 — 2
Whitefish 1 2 — 3
WF — Brooke Roberts (Adrienne Healy) 3:00
CF — Maddie Robison 35:00
WF — Emma Barron 40:00
CF — Cheyanne Johnston-Heinz 78:00
WF — Lucy Lowry (Barron) 81:00
Shots — CF 13, WF 18. Goalie saves — CF 5 (Zoey Byrd), WF 9 (Norah Schmidt). Fouls — CF 7, WF 18. Cards — CF 1, WF 1.