Bulldogs snuff Kats late rally, win 2-1

COLUMBIA FALLS – Two first-half goals held up for the Whitefish Bulldogs Thursday in a 2-1 win over Northern A conference rival Columbia Falls at Flip Darling Memorial Field.

Olivia Genovese and Maeve Ingelfinger scored and Brooke Roberts and Delaney Smith added assists.

“Great performance,” Whitefish coach Roland Benedict said. ‘It’s hard to play here. It’s a great environment, but it’s even harder to play. Our whole team’s been sick.”

Despite the attrition, Whitefish (9-0 overall, 4-0 conference) survived several Columbia Falls surges thanks to strong goalkeeping by Norah Schmidt, but Hope McAtee scored in the 78th minute.

The Wildkats (5-4, 1-3) threatened to tie, but time ran out on the rally.

“It’s a great performance to be able to get through the game, get it done, and come out with a win is what matters,” Benedict said. “Good soccer games don’t end 7-0 they end 2-1, right? Those are the games that you want to have to want to win.”

Wildkat keeper Zoey Byrd had some struggles in the first half but kept her team in the game with words of encouragement from her side of the field and more than a few timely saves.

“Ultimately a huge performance by our girls in the second half to rally and to win the second half,” Columbia Falls coach Thomas Clark said. “But at the end of the day, we’re not playing for moral victories and at some point, we gotta get over the top and get that big win. But it was marked improvement from the first match up against these guys and there are some things that we’re proud of for sure.”

Whitefish won the teams’ first meeting 4-0 on Sept. 15.

Genovese is second in the state with 19 goals; McAtee is in sixth with 12 goals.

Smith has logged six assists this season and Roberts has 10.

Whitefish 2 0 - 0

Columbia Falls 0 1 - 1

WF - Olivia Genovese (Delaney Smith) 15:00

WF - Maeve Ingelfinger (Brooke Roberts) 35:00

CF - Hope McAtee 78:00

Shots - WF 11, CF 14; Goalie saves – WF 9 (Norah Schmidt), CF 9 (Zoey Byrd); Corner kicks – WF 4, CF 4.