Cats lose play-in game to Libby

The Columbia Falls boys soccer team held their own for a half against Libby last week, but lost to the Loggers 3-1 in a play-in game for the Class A playoffs.

The Wildcats took an early lead in the Oct. 13 game in Libby when freshman Auguste Emond connected with sophomore Jakob Grein on a corner kick to put the Cats up 1-0 at the 17-minute mark.

But the Cats lost another starter — Chance Adams —to injury and with the squad already down three players to injury, they just couldn’t hold off Libby in the second half.

Coach O’Brien Byrd was pleased with the effort they gave, despite the loss.

“We just couldn’t hold Libby back the full 80 minutes,” he said. “They gave it everything. I’m proud of the boys. They did everything we asked them to do.”

Byrd notes the future looks bright for the squad. They lose just one senior — Daniel Skinner — and they went 4-4 in conference play, one of their best seasons in years. They also will look to add 10 to 12 more freshmen to the ranks next season.

Byrd regularly played or started three freshmen this year.

Columbia Falls 1 0 — 1

Libby 0 3 — 3

CF—Jakob Grein (Auguste Emond), 17:00

L—Zander Peterson, 60:00

L—Peterson (Ryan Nagle), 74:00

L—Colin Maloney, 79:00

Shots on Goal—Libby 24, CF 6. Keeper Saves—Libby 4 (Raffael Webber), CF 20 (Brandon Karberg). Corner kicks—Libby 7, CF 5. Fouls—Libby 6, CF 5. Cards—none.