Soccer Cats down Whitefish in thriller

Hungry Horse News

For the first 70 minutes, Columbia Falls was held in check against rival Whitefish.

The Wildcats (6-1-2 overall, 3-0 conference) then exploded for three goals in the span of 10 minutes and held on to defeat the Bulldogs 3-1 to take the conference lead.

Guy Smith's goal in the 70th minute broke a scoreless tie, and Cory Pete's putback goal on a Jake Bengtson shot in the 74th put the Cats up 2-0.

Whitefish clawed their way back, scoring just two minutes later on an Alex Konopatzke penalty kick in what became a wild finish.

The teams each had long runs stopped along the sidelines in the final few minutes before Wildcat forward D.J. Stoneman scored in the 79th minute on a Smith assist to seal the win for Columbia Falls.

Head coach Peter Browne was thrilled by the victory, saying that it was important to keep the momentum building for the Cats in conference play.

"It's a big game for us," he said. "It's a good win."

Browne also praised Whitefish for their intense play, saying that this rivalry is always for bragging rights.

"I give Whitefish credit," he said. "They ran hard … It's a battle playing against Whitefish and it's good to get a win."

Although both teams got off to a slow start, Browne said that it was partially due to the nature of the rivalry.

"It's just kind of nerves," he said. "We need to be able to settle that down."

The win capped off a perfect week for the Cats, as they defeated both Libby and Corvallis by a score of 5-0.

Against Libby, Smith scored twice as Alex Branch, Bengtson and Pete each scored as well.

A strong defensive effort allowed the team to roam offensively, as they were able to find the offensive consistency they had been searching for.

In the Corvallis tilt, Pete, Smith, Stoneman, Branch and Peter Vanhorn all scored, as the Cats outshot the Blue Devils 34-10.

Goalkeeper Lee Kizer was solid in the net, blocking two shots.

The Cats will host Bigfork this Saturday at 11 a.m. The girls match is at 1 p.m.

Kats can't get by 'Dogs, lose 2-1

By JOHN VAN VLEET

Hungry Horse News

As the final whistle blew on the Columbia Falls Wildkats Tuesday night, the defending state champions could only look back and wonder what might have been.

The Kats (7-2-0 overall, 2-1 conference) lost their first conference tilt to rival Whitefish 2-1, in a game that featured as many missed opportunities as it did highlights.

Holding a decided advantage in shots, the Kats were unable to capitalize on many of their chances, allowing Whitefish to steal the victory with a Jen Joern goal in the 53rd minute.

Whitefish opened the scoring on a Mariah Driscoll goal in the 28th minute, but the Kats answered quickly, with Lisa Carter scoring her 20th goal of the season just two minutes later.

From there, the Wildkats just couldn't score.

In the 69th minute, the Kats had one of their best scoring chances, as Ashley Horine had a breakaway that was stopped on a spectacular save by Whitefish goalkeeper Kirstin NallyMadigan.

Another NallyMadigan save on a Beth Karper rebound shot in the 78th minute sealed Columbia Falls' fate, and the Wildkats were left holding their heads as they walked off the field in defeat.

Head coach Greg Trenerry was visibly upset with the loss and bemoaned the lack of intensity.

"I just don't think we played a real good match," he said. "They wanted it more than we did."

The loss marred what was otherwise a great week for the Kats, as they defeated Libby 8-0 and Corvallis 6-1.

Against Libby, Carter had five goals, Karper had two and goalkeeper Almanza even had one. Jessica Boyer finished with two assists.

In the Corvallis match, Carter followed up with two more goals, and was joined in the scoring column by Alona Raymond, Horine, Karper and Amber Lampman.

The Kats will host Bigfork on Saturday.

Golfers tee off in

tune-up

tourneys

The Columbia Falls High School golf team is getting ready for divisionals, one step at a time.

The golfers competed in two major invitational tournaments this past week as they prepared for the Northwest "A" Divisional Tournament today at the Polson Country Club.

Bobby Pearce's 89 at the Bigfork Invitational last Thursday paced the Cats and contributed to the team score of 392.

The Whitefish boys captured team honors followed by host Bigfork.

For the Wildcats, Robbie Dakin, Zane Ridings, and Jacob Lutz posted 101s and Andrew Sweeney shot a 106.

On the girls' side of the tournament, Wildkat sophomore Sara Cazier saw her first varsity competition shooting a 138.

Senior Sydney Jordt posted a 145.

On Monday, the Cats made a short trip to Whitefish for the annual Whitefish Invitational.

The Cats teed it up against 15 other schools including several "AA" squads and a visiting Lethbridge, Alberta team.

The Cats finished in 12th place with a 357 as Bobby Pearce shot 84, Andrew Sweeney 88, Zane Ridings 92, Shawn MacNorius 93 and Robbie Dakin 95.

Head coach Gene Marcille said that these two tournaments were good warm-ups for the upcoming divisional tourney.

"Both these tournaments were great tune-ups for our divisional tournament," he said. "Our division is super-tough this year, but I still like our chances to move on to State."

The top three teams and the top 15 individuals at the divisional tournament will advance to the state tournament next Thursday and Friday at Whitefish.