Cats post soccer wins over Park, Belgrade

By JOE SOVA

Hungry Horse News

After a slow start to the season, Columbia Falls got its boys soccer offense in high gear last weekend — earning a pair of non-conference victories at home.

The Wildcats led Park County 1-0 at halftime on Friday, then added two second-half goals for a 3-0 win. CFHS had a strong first half against Belgrade on Saturday, leading 3-0 and rolling to a 6-1 victory. The Wildcats have won three straight matches and are 3-1 on the season.

DJ Stoneman got the Cats on the scoreboard against Park County, the team from Livingston, finding the left corner of the net on a penalty kick after a foul by the visitors in the penalty box.

CFHS could not manage any breakaway opportunities, but found a way to score 30 minutes into the second half. Chase Jackson took a pass from Travis Pete and his 32-yard blast soared into the upper right corner for a 2-0 Cats lead.

Cats keeper George Kimerly kept the shutout alive with a diving save with about eight minutes remaining. Josh McNeil added insurance, scoring with three minutes to play.

Despite the win, Cats coach Peter Browne was not pleased with his team's play.

"We were real flat the first half," Browne said. "We dodged a bullet that game. We had a hard time with mental composure going into the game. We're lacking leadership on the field."

Browne did have praise for Jackson and the goalkeeping of Kimerly.

Five players scored in the win over Belgrade, a game in which the Cats showed a new look on the field.

"We played a lot better than we did on Friday," Browne said. "We made a little adjustment in the midfield. We moved some players around."

Pete and Cody Bowman were moved to the middle.

"We played a little flatter," Browne said of CFHS' formation.

McNeil, Jackson and Anthony Hoelscher each scored a first-half goal. Belgrade netted a shot 11 minutes into the second half, but the Cats responded with a goal by Stoneman just a minute later. Jackson and Pete added goals later in the last 40 minutes.

Jackson's goals gave him three for the weekend, and he had an assist against Belgrade. Pete, Casey Hebert and Dylan Day also had assists.

"It's nice to get goals from different places on the field," Browne said. "They (Belgrade) left some pretty big holes and we capitalized."

The Cats outshot Belgrade, 30-4. Kimerly had to make just two saves.

Browne said that Stoneman played well at withdrawn forward, as did Michael Hensley as a defender.

"We controlled the game," Browne said of the Cats' passing. "But there are still a lot of things we have to clean up."

The Cats play a conference game Saturday, Sept. 8 at Libby and they need a win to even their league mark at 1-1.

"It's real important for us to get a result up there," Browne said.

On Tuesday, Sept. 11, CFHS plays at Whitefish. The Bulldogs routed Laurel 11-0 on Saturday.

"They have an extremely good team. They have a lot of good state championship players back," Browne said.

Kats split pair of soccer matches

By CHRIS PETERSON

Hungry Horse News

The Columbia Falls girls soccer team had a decidedly up and down week against eastern rivals, beating Park County High School, 5-1 on Friday, but losing to Belgrade 4-0 on Saturday — both at home.

Kassie Hebert had four goals against Park to raise her season total to nine, including a hat trick in the second half. Captain Kate Anderson also had a goal.

Hebert scored at the 20-minute mark on a feed from Tyler Thompson; Anderson scored at the 29-minute mark. Ashli Fairbank and Lindsey Henning also marked assists. Henning's came on corner kicks.

But on Saturday, the girls looked a little tired, a little banged up and pretty flat as Belgrade controlled the ball and took them to task.

They also had to do without Anderson, who played about nine minutes, but had to leave because of a nagging knee injury she suffered against Park.

"I think we were tired against Belgrade, for sure," coach Greg Trenerry said.

The score could have been worse than the 4-0 blanking, but keeper Colyne Hislop made some nice saves on Belgrade's breakaway chances. The Panthers outshot the Kats 19-4 while the day before the Kats outshot Park, 17-6.

Belgrade took a 1-0 lead in the first half, but really controlled the tempo of the game throughout.

Hebert had a tough time getting shots on goal because she was often double teamed. The Kats also had a rough time pushing the ball upfield when they did get it. Belgrade simply won too many balls.

The Kats have a chance to regroup this week before traveling to Libby on Saturday, Sept. 8 and then facing Whitefish away on Tuesday, Sept. 11. Game time against the Dogs is 4:30 p.m.