Young CFHS boys open at Park High

By JOE SOVA / Hungry Horse News

A young Columbia Falls High School boys soccer team kicks off the 2008 season with a pair of road matches this weekend. The Wildcats face Park (Livingston) at 3 p.m. Friday, and take on Belgrade on Saturday at 1 p.m. Those games are part of boys-girls doubleheaders.

Peter Browne returns for his ninth year as Wildcats coach. His team posted a 7-6-1 record in 2007 after going 3-4-1 in the Northern A Conference. The Cats beat Billings Central in a shootout in the first round of the playoffs, but were eliminated by Libby 3-2 after a 4-3 shootout. Whitefish completed an unbeaten season by winning the Class A title 3-1 over Libby in an all-Northern Conference final.

The Cats lost four key seniors from last year's team — DJ Stoneman, Cody Bowman, Josh McNeil and Casey Hebert. There are six seniors on the 2008 squad, including Travis Pete, George Kimerly, Chase Jackson, Michael Hensley, Grant Getts and Jason Hernandez. The roster shows 18 players to begin the season.

"They're working hard and showing good leadership," Browne said last week.

There are only two juniors on the team — Uriah Keller and Anthony Hoelscher — and a combined 10 sophomores and freshmen.

Of those 10, only a couple were on the team last season. The remaining eight have to get used to the environment of high school soccer.

"We need to get our younger kids a little bit of experience," Browne said.

In addition to those players mentioned, sophomore wing Edgar Salcido will be a contributor. Hoelscher has been slowed by a quadriceps injury.

"I'm looking forward to good things from (sophomore) Jake Calderwood," Browne said.

In two key positions for the Cats, Getts will play stopper and Hensley goes at sweeper.

"We should be pretty good defensively," Browne said.

Browne said that Jackson is "working really hard and should be our guy up top (at forward)." Pete should anchor the middle of the Cats' formation.

Kimerly is coming off a solid season as the Cats' goalkeeper.

A strength of this year's squad, according to Browne, is team speed.

"We need to get a little more work on a couple of players who are in the attacking zone," Browne said. "We're going to have to play a counter-attack game.

"We have some work to do. We need a game to see where we're at," the coach said.

Although Whitefish lost eight players from last year's state championship team, the Bulldogs will be solid.

"They always find a way to reload," Browne said.

Whitefish opened the season last Saturday, blanking Stevensville, 5-0.

Libby was young last year and could be even stronger this season. The Loggers shut out Polson 4-0 Saturday in the season and league opener.

CFHS' goal is to again make it to the state playoffs.

"That would be a good goal for us, for such a young team," Browne said.

The Cats' first home match is Friday, Sept. 12 against Libby.

Youth abounds for Wildkat girls soccer

By JOE SOVA

Hungry Horse News

Only two seniors are part of the Columbia Falls High School girls soccer roster for the 2008 season, but don't think that the Wildcats won't have a very competitive team.

The big news for Wildkats is that returning head coach Greg Trenerry has 21 players on the team that opens the season this weekend, compared to just 15 a year ago.

"We will be able to scrimmage, full field," Trenerry said last week. "We should have more subs than last year."

The Kats kick off the campaign with a pair of road games, playing Park in Livingston at 5 p.m. Friday and Belgrade at 11 a.m. Saturday.

Shelby Wiebelhaus and Stephanie Raymond are the only two seniors on the squad. Wiebelhaus and junior Ashli Fairbank are the team captains for the opening weekend. Raymond is in only her second year of high school soccer.

"We're young," Trenerry said, but the skill level, overall, is high.

There are four juniors on the team, including McKenzie Reeve, a transfer from Bigfork. The others, in addition to Fairbank, are Shay Grilley and Sophia Peterson. They will be counted on to play contributing roles, according to Trenerry.

At the inside back, Fairbank will fill the key sweeper position for the Kats. Who will play stopper is uncertain, Trenerry said, and Raymond and freshman Elyse Gordon are likely candidates. The Kats will be very young at the forward position, with Reeve and two freshmen — Cedar Jordt and McKenzie Kizer — capable of scoring.

With Colyne Hislop gone via graduation, sophomore Niesha Thompson starts at goalkeeper for the Kats. She saw limited action in the net in a couple of games last season.

"She needs some game experience," Trenerry said.

Another sophomore starter will be Elena Potter.

There is a bevy of 13 freshmen on the opening roster, and many of them will see considerable playing time.

"There will definitely be a few freshmen out there," Trenerry said.

Freshmen mentioned by Trenerry were Cortney White, Katy Darling, Breanna Hopper and Melissa Livingston.

"We have good depth and pretty good speed," Trenerry said. "We still need work on a lot of stuff."

Nicolette, who has been a volunteer in the girls program for several years, is now officially an assistant coach for the Kats.

Trenerry said Whitefish and Libby will be the front-runners in the Northern A Conference. Whitefish rolled past Stevensville 7-0 in the Bulldogs' season opener last Saturday while Libby shut out Polson, 5-0 in the season and conference opener.

Last season, Columbia Falls was 3-3-2 in the conference. The Kats qualified for the state playoffs, but lost to Belgrade in the first round to finish the year with a 6-5-2 mark.

"It's always a goal to make it to the playoffs," Trenerry said. "I'd like to get to the semis, possibly the finals."

The Kats' first home match is Friday, Sept. 12 against Libby in the conference opener.