Cats win first soccer conference title in 11 years

Auguste Emond, right, goes up for a header against a Whitefish defender.

Logan Stephens drives to the goal against a Whitefish defender.

by CHRIS PETERSON
Editor | October 5, 2016 8:37 AM

Logan Stephens drives to the goal against a Whitefish defender.

The Columbia Falls boys soccer team dropped Whitefish 2-0 and Polson 2-1 last week to secure the Northern A conference title last week.

It’s the first conference title in 11 years for the Wildcats.

Coach O’Brien Byrd said the team has had the mentality all season of concentrating on one game at a time. On the bus trip down to Polson, the boys talked about securing the conference title.

Then they got the job done. Logan Stephens, who leads the team in scoring, put in both of Columbia Falls goals against the Pirates.

The Cats rounded out the season Tuesday, dropping Libby, 5-3.

The team’s goal has always been to win a state championship, Byrd noted, but they still have a lot refine in their game.

The Cats will host the third team in the east — Livingston — a team they tied 2-2 earlier this season. A time and date hasn’t been set yet and won’t be until next Monday. If they win, the Cats will host a semifinal game, but if they win that game, they’ll have to travel for the championship.

The boys are 9-1-1 heading into the Libby game. Their only loss was against Belgrade.

Whitefish 0 0 — 0

Columbia Falls 0 2 — 2

CF — Jon Sigurdsson (Jakob Grein), 60:00

CF — Logan Stephens (Sigurdsson), 65:00

Shots on goal — Whitefish 3, Columbia Falls 14. Saves — Whitefish 14 (Marty Anderson), Columbia Falls 3 (Brandon Karberg) . Corner kicks — Whitefish 3, Columbia Falls 7. Fouls — Whitefish 5, Columbia Falls 8. Cards — Columbia Falls, 1 yellow.

Columbia Falls 1 1 — 2

Polson 0 1 — 1

CF — Logan Stephens (Jon Sigurdsson), 37:00

CF — Stephens (Brandon Karberg), 55:00

POL — Andrew Hanson (unassisted), 80:00

Shots — Columbia Falls 6, Polson 9. Saves — Columbia Falls 8 (Karberg), Polson 3 (Russell Smith). Corner kicks — Columbia Falls 2, Polson 4. Fouls — Columbia Falls 11, Polson 9. Cards — Columbia Falls, yellow.

C. Falls 3 2 — 5

Libby 2 1 — 3

CF — Jon Sigurdsson (unassisted), 10:00

CF — Sigurdsson (unassisted), 16:00

CF — Sigurdsson (unassisted), 22:00

LIB — Cody Wood (Colin Maloney), 27:00

LIB — Wood (unassisted), 35:00

LIB — Wood (unassisted), 45:00

CF — Sigurdsson (unassisted), 74:00

CF — Jakob Grein (Skylar Chute), 80:00

Shots on goal — Columbia Falls 18, Libby 14. Saves — Columbia Falls 8 (Brandon Karberg), Libby 10 (Ryan Nagle). Corner kicks — Columbia Falls 5, Libby 2. Fouls — Columbia Falls 17, Libby 8. Cards — None.