One more step for Wildcats

Most of the current Columbia Falls Wildcats weren’t even born yet when the school last held a State A soccer final on its home turf in 2004.

Same for the last state title in 2005, when the Wildcats beat Billings Central in overtime.

Saturday is the third championship game for these Wildcats and the last chance for its nine seniors to hoist a trophy. Whitefish won the last two times but the tables have turned — Columbia Falls swept its season series with Whitefish and the Bulldogs were eliminated from the postseason by Livingston.

“There is a level of pressure that's off of us,” Columbia Falls coach O’Brien Byrd said. “We made it, we're hosting it. That was the plan — win conference, get to the championship and host it here. So it has been very much a breath of fresh air.”

Byrd has been here before, of course. In his 20th year of coaching, this is his ninth state title game, and he won four during his 12-year tenure at Whitefish (he was hired at Columbia Falls in 2015).

The unbeaten Wildcats have won 14 games, which is the best record in school history. They’ve allowed just four goals but none during the run of play — all have been through corner, free or penalty kicks.

Part of that is due to goalkeeper Bryce Dunham, who tied the school record with his ninth shutout last weekend. The other part of that is a back line of Andrew Miner, Ethan Austin and Adam Schrader. Schrader is having a sneaky good season: He’s scored nine goals and has 10 assists. Same for Dale Blickhan and Walt Nichols, with eight and seven goals respectively.

Then add in the scoring: Finley Sundberg leads the state with 23 goals and broke the school record of 21 (set by Kai Golan last year). Golan has 13 goals, and missed a few games with an injury. Sundberg also has 15 assists, most in the state.

Last week the Wildcats topped Loyola 2-0 off goals from River Wolford and Golan.

To keep things loose, Byrd gave the team a day off Monday and the Wildcats went bowling Tuesday. Wednesday was a “heavy practice,” Byrd said.

The Livingston Rangers won the Eastern A, then beat Stevensville and Whitefish en route to the final. Calvin Caplis leads the Rangers with 16 goals (he scored the winner against Whitefish) and Alec Dalby and Ryan Brown have each scored 11.

“They’re the real deal,” Byrd said. “They survived the pressure of that semifinal, and beat the defending state champs. I've watched lots of film on them. They're not gonna bring anything unexpected to the table on Saturday. They're probably gonna say the same of us.”

Byrd says the regular season wins against Whitefish infused confidence in an already talented team. After three years of losing to the Bulldogs, the Wildcat seniors came out on top. This has all been years in the making, and Columbia Falls looks to have the cupboards stocked for the years to come.

“We've gone through a lot of suffering to get here,” Byrd said. “We’ve gone through a lot of heartache. We've gone through a lot of great times too. But it's been a journey carved out of pain and suffering, heartache and joy and in the end, you have one resilient group of young men and that's what's gonna take the field on Saturday.”

Saturday’s final is set for 3 p.m. at Flip Darling Memorial Field in Columbia Falls.