Cats battle Hellgate to a 1-1 tie

It was a tie, but they'll take it.

The Wildcat soccer team came away with a 1-1 score last Saturday against Missoula Hellgate, one of two AA schools the Cats faced this year.

"It would have been a really nice win, but that's a good sign that we can compete with AA teams," said head coach Peter Browne.

The game was scoreless through the first half, but Cat midfielder Felipe Buzipnani put the Cats on the board with a penalty kick halfway through the second half.

Hellgate answered with a goal a few minutes later to tie it. Despite a couple of good scoring opportunities by the Cats, they had to settle for a tie.

In fact, Hellgate and the Cats tied in almost all aspects, matching each other in shots on goal (14 vs. 16) and saves (12 vs. 10).

"We've played two AA teams this year, and obviously the one against Kalispell didn't go as well as we'd hoped, but we showed a lot of improvement against Hellgate," Browne said.

The Cats are 1-0 in conference play, and with the exception of games against Hamilton and Polson, the rest of the season is all conference action.

The Cats host Libby on Thursday (today) and then travel to Hamilton on Saturday. The Loggers lost to Whitefish last weekend.

"Libby's improved over last year. They are scoring a lot more goals. We're not taking anything for granted," Browne said.

Game time is 5:30 p.m.

Columbia Falls 1, Missoula 1

Missoula Hellgate 0 1 — 1

Columbia Falls 0 1 — 1

Missoula — Ben Dach, 66:00

Columbia Falls — Felipe Buzipnani, 59:00

Fouls — Missoula 16, Columbia Falls 12; Cards — Yellow, one each; Shots — Missoula 14, Columbia Falls 16; Corner kicks — Missoula 5, Columbia Falls 3; Goalie saves — Missoula 12 (Chance Heath), Columbia Falls 10 (Lee Kizer).