Girls thump Lone Peak, boys tie in soccer openers

The Columbia Falls soccer teams made the long haul down to Big Sky last week to play Lone Peak high school.

The girls came away with an 8-2 win. The boys tied 1-1.

Sydney Mann had a hat trick and Maddie Robison scored four goals for the girls as they outshot Lone Peak 20-11. Zoey Byrd had nine saves in front of the net. Cheyanne-Johnston Heinz had a goal to round out the scoring.

Combined with Hope McAtee, who had four assists, the girls have a potent offense this season.

“The offense picked up where they off last season,” coach Thomas Clark said.

He said the defense is a work in progress, but he was pleased with the play of Byrd between the posts and Alethia Fisher on the back line.

On the boys’ side, Kai Golan scored the lone goal for the Wildcats at the 21-minute mark. The Cats outshot Lone Peak 16-4, but couldn’t find the back of the net.

Lone Peak’s Asher Wikan scored when his shot bounced off a sprinkler head and bounced past Bryce Dunham at an odd angle.

Coach O’Brien Byrd said the lack of scoring was on him.

“We literally haven’t practiced taking shots in the entire pre-season,” he said. Instead, the team has been focusing on possession and they did that against Lone Peak. They had the ball about 95% of the time.

The Cats had some bad luck, too. Three shots hit the crossbar and another a post. Byrd said they’ll be focusing on finishing offensive plays this week.

On Friday, both teams face Lockwood at 4 p.m. and 6 p.m at home. The boys have the opener. Then Saturday, they face Laurel, boys at 10 a.m. and girls at noon. Lockwood is a new school in Class A, while Laurel is always competitive.

For the girls, Laurel is a definitely the game to watch, as the Locomotives knocked the girls out of the playoffs last season and have had the Kats’ numbers in the postseason for a few years now.

“It’s going to be an intense match,” Clark said.

Columbia Falls 4 4 — 8

Lone Peak 1 1 — 2

CF — Sydney Mann (Hope McAtee) CF — Maddie Robison (Mann) CF — Robison ( McAtee) CF — Robison (Apani Awua) CF — Robison (McAtee) CF — Cheyanne Johnston-Heinz (McAtee) CF — Mann (Robison) CF — Mann (Robison) Shots on goal — CF 20, Lone Peak 11. Goalie saves — CF 9 (Zoey Byrd), Lone Peak 12. Corner kicks — NA. Cards — NA.

Columbia Falls 1 0 — 1

Lone Peak 1 0 — 1

CF- Kai Golan (Findley Sundberg) 21’00 LP - Asher Wikan 43’00 Shots on goal — CF 16, LP 4. Goalie saves — CF 1 (Bryce Dunham), LP 11 (Sawyer Wolfe). Corner kicks — CF 7, LP 3. Fouls — CF 5, LP 4. Cards — LP 1.