Kats squander lead against 'Dogs

They got too defensive on defense and it cost them the game. The Columbia Falls girls soccer team lost to Whitefish 3-2 at home on Sept. 19 after they squandered a 2-1 lead over the Lady Bulldogs in the second half.

Whitefish went up 1-0 after Haley Nicholson hit a high floater that went off the tips of Wildkat keeper Andrea Getts’ fingers at the five-minute mark.

But Columbia Falls answered with a goal by freshman Kendra King, who hit a shot on a feed by Tavia Bechtel to make it 1-1 at the 29-minute mark.

The game was tied at the break. Nine minutes into the second half, forward Haley Purdy scored on a feed from Bechtel to make it 2-1 Columbia Falls.

The Kats played hard for about 10 minutes after that but then seemed to run out of gas. The defense didn’t clear the ball when it needed to, and Whitefish won the battle of the short passes.

Sixty-nine minutes in, Lady Bulldog Anna Peterson tied the game and then, with about a minute to play, Nicholson scored again to put Whitefish in the lead.

“They let up and didn’t clear the ball well,” Wildkat coach Greg Trenerry said.

Against Bigfork at home on Sept. 17, the Kats drubbed the Valkyries, 6-0.

Alexi Corbett and Haley Purdy each scored two goals to lead the squad, while Lindsay Strouse and Natasha Martin had a goal apiece.

The Valkyries put the press on early, but the Kats held them off, and Purdy scored first on a breakaway after a nice little pass from Strouse just three minutes in.

Strouse added an unassisted goal at the 23-minute mark, and then Martin scored on a little skidder past the goalie to make it 3-0 just 35 minutes in. Purdy knocked in another a few minutes later, and the Wildkats were up 4-0 at the break.

The girls are now 2-2-2 over all and face Polson at home Thursday. Game time is 5:30 p.m.