Cats lose battle to Belgrade in soccer semis

When the final whistle sounded, a tired Logan Stephens walked down the field and shook hands with the Belgrade goalie. The two had battled it out for 90 minutes Saturday at home, colliding violently on more than one occasion through the pitch.

It was a fine show of sportsmanship as Belgrade bested Columbia Falls in the state A soccer semifinals, 4-2. The Wildcats capped off an excellent season, going 12-2-1. Belgrade will go on to play in the finals against Corvallis next weekend.

“In terms of effort, I couldn’t have asked for more from the guys,” coach O’Brien Byrd said.

It looked like Columbia Falls was going to have the early lead, when Stephens knocked a perfect pass into the goal early in the first half, but he was called off side.

Belgrade responded with a goal at the 19-minute mark to take the lead and Stephens knotted it up at the 35-minute mark on a feed from Jon Sigurdsson.

But in the second half, Belgrade dropped in three straight goals. Stephens had several breakaway chances as well, but they either just missed or ended in a collision with Belgrade’s keep.

Senior keeper Brandon Karberg made some stellar saves to keep the Cats in the game on the other end.

Sigurdsson knocked in a penalty kick to cut the margin to two at the 73-minute mark, but that’s as close as Columbia Falls would get.

The Cats lose starters Karberg, Hunter Peterson, Paxton Fisher, Sigurdsson, and Logan Stephens to graduation.

But the future looks bright for the program.

“It’s been a wonderful season,” Byrd said. “They gave us playoff experience. Next year we’ll have a team that’s been there ... I couldn’t be more proud of the squad this year.”

The Cats will hit the weight room this spring and play summer ball. The junior varsity team went 6-2 this season, including beating Glacier’s junior varsity squad. Last year, the JV was 1-6.

There’s also about nine freshmen coming up through the ranks, Byrd noted.

Belgrade 1 3 — 4

Columbia Falls 1 1 — 2

BGD — Jordan Schlauch (unassisted), 19:00

CF — Logan Stephens (Jon Sigurdsson), 35:00

BGD — Jeffrey DeBuse (penalty kick), 43:00

BGD — Jared Rockwell (Javan Chisholm), 64:00

BGD — Luke Turner (DeBuse), 72:00

CF — Sigurdsson (penalty kick), 73:00

Shots on goal — Belgrade 15, Columbia Falls 7. Saves — Belgrade 4 (Clay Bost), Columbia Falls 10 (Brandon Karberg). Corner kicks — Belgrade 3, Columbia Falls 2. Fouls — Belgrade 13, Columbia Falls 8. Cards — None.