Billings Central gives Whitefish a scare

By DAVID ERICKSON / Whitefish Pilot

The Whitefish boys soccer team split two nonconference games over the weekend, as they took on Billings Central and the Laurel Locomotives.

Whitefish 1,

Billings Central 1

The Bulldogs suffered a big reality check on Friday night, as Billings Central gave them a scare and their first tie in two years in a Class A nonconference match.

Although the final score was 1-1, the Bulldog coaches were holding their breath and were probably glad it wasn't worse.

Things were looking good eight minutes into the game when Travis Adams scored for Whitefish off an assist from Mac Adams.

After that, however, the Billings defense stymied the aggressive Bulldog attack.

In the 46th minute, Mike Eggen of Billings scored on a penalty kick to tie the game.

It was a deadlock for the rest of the game, as neither side could penetrate the opposing defensive line.

Whitefish outshot Billings 11-4, but they couldn't get anything in the net. Whitefish goalkeeper Joe Galbraith had only three saves on the day.

"We just got unlucky with some chances," head coach O'Brien Byrd said. "After halftime, the nervousness set in. A lot of guys mentioned that they wanted to keep this undefeated streak alive. But after the half, it was just kind of a total team breakdown."

Byrd said he was glad that if his team had to suffer a setback, it happened early in the season.

"What a wonderful way to turn that into a great opportunity to learn," he said. "I'm glad it happened on Friday."

Whitefish 7, Laurel 1

The Whitefish boys soccer team took out their frustration at tying their first game in two years the night before on an unsuspecting Laurel team Saturday morning.

The Bulldogs torched the Locomotives for five second-half goals in another Class A nonconference match.

Laurel entered the game against Whitefish undefeated, but they just ran into a buzzsaw.

Four different Whitefish players scored goals. Patrick Jones, Jack Steele and Mac Adams each had two, and Felix Hermsdorf added one. Matt Danczyk assisted on three scores.

The Bulldogs outshot Laurel 15-4, while basically shutting down the Locomotive offense.

"We absolutely exploded on Saturday," Byrd said. "Saturday was a wonderful day for many reasons. It was just awesome for us to click and get that confidence back again. These seniors this year are starting to catch on that 'it's our turn now.'"

The win moves the Bulldogs to 2-0-1 on the season. They play at Bigfork on Thursday in their first conference game.