Wildcats earn third straight trip to state final

COLUMBIA FALLS — Last year the Columbia Falls Wildcats had to go through Missoula Loyola en route to the State A boys soccer final. It was the same story this year, and the Wildcats are headed to the chipper after a 2-0 semifinal win over the Rams on Saturday at Flip Darling Memorial Field.

Its the third straight year the Wildcats will play in a state final game.

In the first half, you could cut the tension with a knife. Even after sophomore River Wolford buried a rebound from a corner kick, the Wildcats knew they still had more battles to win.

“It's just this pressure of being number one,” Wildcats coach O’Brien Byrd said. “And so when we scored that first goal, I don't even know if I celebrated. It was like… I knew we were still in for it for the long haul.”

Kai Golan added the dagger in the 69th minute, a beauty of a goal perfectly angled from the left wing.

“Kai when he wants to, he can turn it on and nobody can stop him,” Byrd said. “That was just a goal out of sheer will and determination.”

With his ninth shutout of the season, Wildcats keeper Bryce Dunham tied the school record. The Wildcats have allowed four goals during this campaign and none of them have come during the run of play — they all have been from free kicks and penalty kicks and the like.

That’s not as surprising a stat when you consider the strong play of Dunham and a back line with the likes of Josiah Kilman, Andrew Miner and Ethan Austin.

“Super proud of the boys,” Byrd said. “They made it and now we're gonna host the state championship, which was our dream.”

Columbia Falls will play host to the Livingston Rangers, who dethroned four-time defending champs Whitefish in their semifinal game.

Columbia Falls 1 1 — 2

Loyola 0 0 — 0

CF - River Wolford (Finley Sundberg) 37:00

CF - Kai Golan (Nico Lang) 69:00

Shots — Loyola 9, CF 16; Goalie saves — Loyola 7, CF 8 (Bryce Dunham); Corner kicks — Loyola 4, CF 10; Fouls — Loyola 15, CF 9.