Wildkats hold off Bigfork in Class A semifinal clash, 6-4

COLUMBIA FALLS — It was a tale of two halves Saturday at Flip Darling Field. Josie Harris scored a hat trick for Columbia Falls in a dominant first half, then Bigfork’s Paeten Gunlock countered with a hat trick of her own in the second half.

The Wildkats hung on to win 6-4 and earned the program’s first trip to the Class A soccer final since 2014.

“The whole first half was incredible,” Wildkats coach Thomas Clark said. “It's the best half we've played all year.”

Harris scored first in the 11th minute, assisted by Riley Byrd, who then scored goals in the 17th and 20th, one on a breakaway. Hope McAtee added one, and the Wildkats led 4-0 with 18 minutes still to play in the first half. Harris scored two more for a 6-0 lead before the break. It looked like the game would be a blowout.

“When we’re firing like that, nobody can touch us,” Clark said. “And honestly, if we play the way we played in the first half, I don't care who we're playing, we're gonna be tough to beat. I don't think anybody's beating us if we play that way for a full game.”

Bigfork pushed back in a big way in the second half — dominating scoring chances, forcing Columbia Falls to make mistakes, and keeping the Wildkats from scoring. Gunlock scored three goals in less than 30 minutes to keep the Valkyries in the game.

“They have this immense self-belief, which is a testament to the captains they have to, the coaches that they have,” Clark said. “They never stop believing.”

Piper Buzzell scored just before the whistle to get Bigfork within two goals. The Wildkats were hanging on for dear life, a stark contrast from the first half, but they survived and will play Whitefish for the title.

McAtee had three assists and Onnikka Lawrence had two.

Bigfork and Columbia Falls had previously played to 4-4 and 2-2 ties in the regular season. The Valkyries pulled off an upset over Laurel last week to advance to the semifinal.

“I was having a heart attack over there at the end of the game because we've seen this plot, we've seen this story before with Bigfork,” Clark said. “It wasn't in the cards for the story to be written that way today. So proud of the girls. We knew we belonged in the state championship this year and now we're no longer telling ourselves that we belong there. We’re there.”

Bigfork 0 4 — 4

Columbia Falls 6 0 — 6

CF — Josie Harris (Riley Byrd) 11:00

CF — Byrd (Hope McAtee) 17:00

CF — Byrd (Onnikka Lawrence) 20:00

CF — McAtee (Lawrence) 22:00

CF — Harris (McAtee) 31:00

CF — Harris (McAtee) 39:00

B — Paeten Gunlock 44:00

B — Gunlock 51:00

B — Gunlock 72:00

B— Piper Buzzell 80:00