Lady Bulldogs win in OT, on to state title game
Whitefish's Isabelle Cooke keeps the ball away from Hamilton's Lexi Brenneman during action in the State A semifinal in Whitefish on Saturday, Oct 22. (Jeremy Weber/Daily Inter Lake)
WHITEFISH — The Whitefish Bulldogs are headed to their second state final in three years after a 5-3 overtime victory over the Hamilton Bulldogs in a State A semifinal game Saturday.
“We played well, credit to Hamilton,” Whitefish coach Roland Benedict said. “They came out and they were set up in a certain way to attack us and prevent us from scoring and they did a good job.”
It was the second time Whitefish has had a game decided in overtime this postseason — last week the Bulldogs beat defending champ Laurel in penalty kicks.
Whitefish led 3-0 before Hamilton tied things up in the second half and forced the extra frame.
“We took control and unfortunately got a little complacent in the second half and allowed them to get back in it and tie the game,” Benedict said. “They scored on a great set piece and free kick and a one touch laser beam from 30 yards out.
“But in the overtime period it was 2-0, super comprehensive. We took care of business.”
Benedict thought the cold, wet weather caused some adversity.
“We missed a lot of chances,” he said. “Like our expected goals for the game, our XG was almost seven and theirs was just under three. It’s a high scoring game and wet ball's tough to deal with, but it was entertaining, that's for sure, which we've done all year.”
Complete statistics for this game were not available at press time.
Whitefish will play host to Billings Central in the state final this weekend.
The Whitefish boys fell 1-0 to Livingston in their Saturday semifinal.