CFHS boys suffer trio of conference losses
Columbia Falls' Chase Jackson, right, fights for possession against Polson's Jacob Browne. Chris Peterson photo
By JOE SOVA / Hungry Horse News
In a "must-win" game for the Columbia Falls boys, the Wildcats fell short on the soccer field in Bigfork on Tuesday as the Vikings recorded their first Northern A Conference win by a 1-0 final.
The only goal was scored by Phillip Hermanni on a throw-in by Alec MacCallum, 12 minutes into the match — after the ball bounced around and was finally booted into the net.
The coach said goalkeeper George Kimerly had a good game, but the rest of the defense faltered.
"We had some problems scoring goals," CFHS coach Peter Browne said. "Bigfork kind of packed it in the back. We needed to spread them out a little bit, but we couldn't do it.
"My team wasn't prepared to play and that kind of falls on my shoulders," he added.
Bigfork had eight shots on goal, according to Viking statistics, and the Kats had six.
The loss dropped the Cats to 1-5 in conference play and 1-6 overall, and they are likely out of state playoff contention.
Last Thursday, Libby shut out the Kats, 1-0, in Libby. The only goal was on a penalty kick by Evan May in the 15th minute after a hand ball on the Kats in the penalty box.
"We have a hard time scoring goals," Browne said. "We're not getting it done in the attack part of the field."
Libby played a physical game and was called for 15 fouls compared to four on CFHS.
Kimerly had 12 saves for the Cats, and Lewis Brossman had nine for the Loggers.
The Cats battled back twice to tie Polson on Saturday at CFHS, but the Pirates scored on a goal by Peter Hanson with six minutes left to post a 3-2 conference win.
After Polson led 1-0 at halftime, Chase Jackson scored to tie it, assisted by Grant Getts. The Pirates broke the tie, then Michael Hensley found the net with 10 minutes to play on an assist by Travis Pete.
Kimerly had four saves for the Cats, and Will Wallace had five for Polson.
Lineberry leads CFHS golfers at Polson
Columbia Falls junior Tanner Lineberry posted his best competitive score of the golf season last Thursday at the Polson High School golf invitational. Lineberry fired a solid 80 on the par-72 course, which was good for a fifth-place finish in the 40-player field.
Polson's Tyler Engebretsen took medalist honors with a 73.
Also competing for the Columbia Falls golf team were Nolan Emerson with an 87, Ian Gordon 94, Jordan Mueller 95 and Mike Cotton at 98. The Wildcats finished with a team score of 356, while the Whitefish boys posted a 308 for the tournament win.
"Tanner did a great job down in Polson," coach Dan Frankino said. "He has a really good chance of being in contention at our upcoming divisional tournament."
Wildkat sophomores Courtney Tamburelli and Olivia Williams competed on the girls' side of the tournament, posting scores of 124 and 144, respectively. Polson's Julia DiGiallonardo shot 81 for first-place honors.
The Northwest A Divisional Golf Tournament is Thursday (today) at Eagle Bend Golf Course in Bigfork. The top three boys and girls teams along with the top 15 individual boys and girls advance to the state tournament at Polson on Oct. 10 and 11.